Depth
by AvatarPipTook
Summary: Shin has determined his own destiny regardless of what the others think, but it's not as easy as he thinks. Post Message.
1. Part 1 Ch 1

**Okay, so this is my first non-Avatar: The Last Airbender story. I'm waiting for Korra to come out so I started to watch Ronin Warriors again. Yay! I'm playing with the characters a bit by combining a bit of the Japanese version and the American version, since I know the American version better but like a lot of the original stuff better. So please bear with me if it seems odd. I don't own Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers, and I had to use Wikipedia a lot to try and fit the story in the early '90s (Like 1992). So enjoy!**

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><p>It was a warm October day when the bus stopped in Yamaguchi. It had been a long bus ride from Sendai for the nineteen year old Shin Mori. It had been a year since he was last at home. A year since Suzunagi. He collected his green bag before heading towards home. It wasn't going to be a far walk, and after sitting on a bus for hours, he decided to walk home. Besides, he thought, his mother wasn't expecting him for another hour. He placed a hand into his pants' pocket to retrieve his armor orb.<p>

"We're heading home Suiko." He said before putting it back.

Shin made a quick stop in a shop to grab his mother flowers, and a baby blanket for his sister. Minutes later, he found himself on his street.

As he walked into the front door of the Mori house, Shin noticed that it was dark inside. It was odd for his mother to keep the house dark as it was. Moving his heavy bag to his other shoulder, he continued to search for anyone. As he headed into the kitchen, he started to smell recently cooked food.

"Mom?" he called as he peeked around the corner.

The lights switched on, and there was a crowd of his family and friends.

"Surprise!" they called out.

Shin dropped his bag as he was rushed by his mother and very pregnant sister for hugs. He immediately hugged them back.

"Our sailor's home!" his sister Sayoko cried.

"Did the Maritime Agency feed you well?" his mother asked.

"Yes mother, they did." Shin smiled.

"Don't let him be modest, he's huge!" Touma teased, "He looks like he can beat Shu at an arm wrestling match."

"He cannot" Shu argued back.

Everyone laughed.

"Hold on Shin," his mother said, "Let me get the camera so I can take a picture of your nice white uniform."

As his mother disappeared, his brother-in-law hit him in the arm.

"Ow, you did add some muscle there." He said holding his hand.

Shin rubbed his arm, "Too hard for you, big brother?"

They both laughed. Shin then continued to greet his other friends.

"Where's Seiji?" he asked.

"Couldn't make it. He said something about being busy at the dojo." Ryo answered.

Shin knew what he really meant though. Seiji didn't come because of a disagreement they had a year ago about the new armors Suzunagi had given them. Shin told them about joining the Maritime Safety Agency to help people. The warrior of light had called him a fool, saying that he was hurting the team with not making a final decision about his armor. When it became heated, they were separated by force of the others. Seiji regained his composure and walked out.

"Shame." Shin mumbled.

"I found the camera." His mother called out, walking back towards the party, "Touma-kun, come help me with the timer."

"Coming Mrs. Mori." He smiled.

The blue haired warrior fiddled with the camera for a bit before running to the group. The timer malfunctioned when Touma moved to see what went wrong.

"I swear I had this thing working earlier." Touma said. He was soon interrupted by a flash.

"I guess that photo is going to you." Ryo responded as everyone else laughed.

"It'll be on time this time. I swear." He soon returned.

As they all smiled at the camera, it soon went off. Mrs. Mori clapped.

"Come on Touma-kun, I have a few other things you can do." She said.

As Shin was about to grab his bag to take to his room, his brother-in-law stepped in. He told him to enjoy the party while he could.

"So about this arm wrestling," Shu started, "I have to prove that I'm still the strongest warrior."

"I'll save you the embarrassment, and claim that you still are." Shin laughed.

"You can't back out of this one, buddy." He said, rolling his sleeves up.

Sayoko frowned, "Mother's going to be angry if you break something Shu."

"Nah, this will be quick."

He headed a table, and smirked. Shin sighed as he joined his friend at the table, offering his hand for the match. Ryo gave them a count and then the two warriors were struggling with each other. It was even for the most part until Touma and Shin's mother walked in.

"Shin, Shu, I swear if you break that table," she yelled in English.

Shin was caught off guard, and had his hand slammed into the table. Shu then jumped up.

"Thanks for slamming my hand into the table." Shin soon spoke.

"Shouldn't have lost." Shu smiled.

Touma was laughing at the misfortune as he put down extra chairs. He then followed Shin's mother into the kitchen to help bring the food out.

"He's been helping around the house and the shop while you've been gone." Sayoko told Shin as he about to ask about Touma doing extra work, "It was a bet that he lost."

Touma came back out with a fake laugh. There was a mixture of English and Japanese food.

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><p>Later that night, Shin found himself near the beach. He was wearing his black sweat shirt and a pair of jeans. He was lying on a rock with his feet in the water. Everyone had gone to bed. For him, the excitement of being home hadn't gone away yet, keeping him awake.<p>

"Still awake?" his sister asked, as she was walking up.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"The baby's keeping me up. He won't stop kicking." She said as she sat next to him, "Thanks for the blanket, although I know you bought it here."

Shin laughed, "I didn't have time to stop in Sendai."

"Liar, you're avoiding Sendai still." She said firmly, "Why are you avoiding your friend? Is it about Suiko?"

"Yes." Shin answered, still looking at the stars.

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sayoko spoke again.

"Aren't your feet cold?"

"No. The water's warm compared to up north."

"Still jumping into the water to save people?"

Shin smiled, "I am. I had saved some woman from a boat last week who couldn't swim. The waves were large, and the water was freezing. She clung to me as I tried to get her onto the helicopter. I felt unstoppable."

"Sounds like fun."

"It's much better than fighting." He mumbled.


	2. Part 1 Ch 2

**Here's another one. Enjoy.**

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><p>As he started to wake, he could hear snickering. Shin sighed; he was eager to sleep in.<p>

"Oh Fish-boy, wake up. Touma beat you to breakfast."

"Shin, I didn't know you snored."

"Come on, we have things to do today."

Shin rolled to his stomach and covered his head with his pillow. The trio looked at each other, before going through with their plan. Shin soon found himself soaked with cold water.

"Guys, that was cold!"

"So is your breakfast." Shu shot back, "It was hard to leave it alone for you."

Shin got up, grabbing a towel and a change of clothes. He asked where they were going.

"Mama Rei Fuan's. She's been asking about you." Shu replied.

"That's a long drive guys."

"And it'll be longer if you don't hurry." Touma added.

After being clothed and fed, Shin met the other three at Touma's car. It was a two door Honda. Ryo and Shin were stuck in the back. Touma said something about trying to get to Yokohama in six hours instead of twelve. Shu agreed.

"Let's get going! Drive Tenku!" he yelled, hitting the outside of his door with his hand.

Two hours into the drive, Ryo started talking about switching seats with someone. He and Shin were cramped from the small space.

"Hey, if you can make me shorter and Shu less fat, we'll trade. Until then, quiet!" Touma argued back.

"I have no leg room." Shin stated, "Scoot your seat up Shu."

"Negative, Fish-boy. I can't move the seat anymore."

By the fourth hour, they pulled over for gas. The warriors of fire and water crawled out of the back, trying to ease their cramps as they went. Touma and Shu had already gone to get snacks.

"Ryo, your hair is sticking up in all directions." Shin laughed.

"Ugh, the entire time my head has been rubbing against the ceiling of the damn car. Shu's got to sit in back. I can't sit like that anymore." He answered, trying to fix his hair.

Ryo soon cleared his throat, "Do you still have it?"

"Have what? Suiko?" Shin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I mean, you went and did you own thing without actually saying what you were doing with your armor."

Sighing, Shin answered, "I still have it. I just hope that I don't have to use it."

"When's the last time you talked to Seiji?"

"Last time we were all together. I'd rather not talk about him."

Shu and Touma soon came by.

"Dude, Shin you okay?" Shu asked.

"Yeah. Let's get going."

After a quick game of words, Ryo finally got his place in the front. Shu make sure to sit behind him, and remind him of the pain of being a big guy in a small car.

"Touma, are you going to get a new car soon?" Shu asked, frustrated.

"As soon as pottery becomes the next big thing."

"My mom works hard making pottery." Shin defensively argued.

"I know, but I make enough yen to put gas in this thing."

Shu growled, "We should have just taken the train."

Ryo threw his hands in the air.

"I said that before you decided to try and make the drive in six hours." he argued.

"Okay, so I didn't think we'd be cramped in Touma's car."

"You choose this thing over a train?" Shin's raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, where were you five seconds ago?"

"Let's play the quiet game. Doesn't that sound nice?" Touma interrupted.

Five minutes went by before Shu talked again.

"Anyone watch 'Sailor Moon' this week?"

"Shh. Quiet game Shu. You're losing." Touma mumbled out.

"Touma, take the next exit." Ryo said, looking at the map, "Isn't that the show where the girl pretty much cries throughout the show?"

"I want to know why Shu watches a show like that."Shin smiled.

"What? I don't actually watch it. My sisters do."

"Hold on guys, I'm driving like a crazy person." Touma warned them.

The car went across several lanes to the exit. Everyone was holding on to something. After straightening the car, Touma glanced at his friends. He was getting glares from all three of them.

"Eh, sorry."

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><p>It was later in the afternoon when they reached their destination. Shu went on about getting home in half the time it took to drive there. He also was the first one to enter the restaurant. His sister Rinfi greeted them at the door.<p>

"Hey sis, how's things?"

"Busy, but since you seem to want to take more road trips than work here, I guess everything's fine."

"Cool, I brought the gang in."

"Shin too?" she smiled.

"Yeah."

She watched the warrior of water walk in.

"Hi Shin." She waved.

"Oh, hey Rinfi. How are you?"

"Better now that you're here." She continued to smile.

"I know. Keep him from making fun of you." He laughed back.

Touma laughed from the small talk, "Someone has a crush."

"You're too young to think about boys." Ryo added.

"I'm not. I'm sixteen."

"Keep telling yourself that." Touma waved her off.

The four warriors soon entered the Rei Faun's above apartment. Shu called out that he was home, and Mama Rei Fuan soon came.

"Shin, you're back." She screeched, "And you are too skinny. You all are too skinny. We'll cook a big dinner. Shu come help me."

"Yes mama."

While dinner was being cooked the rest sat down.

"So, we're visiting Nasuti next?" Shin asked.

"Don't you know?" Touma asked.

"No."

"Nasuti and Seiji are getting married soon." Ryo continued.

"What?"

"Dude, you missed everything."

"Wait, Touma's helping my family, Seiji and Nasuti are getting married, and Shu still works here; what are you doing now, Ryo?" Shin was rubbing his temples.

"School and other random things that keep me busy."

"I need to write home more." Shin laid his head in his arms.

"Yeah you do." Shu could be heard from the kitchen.

"Nah, we understand that you're busy. Besides, your mother spoils me like a second son. I should be thanking you for moving out." Touma softly slapped Shin's shoulder.

Shu came walking out with a full plate and mouth, "Food's ready."

"Did you take it all?" Touma asked quickly getting up.

Shin and Ryo thanked Mama Rei Fuan for the food after receiving their plates.

"So what's the plan tonight?" Shu asked.

"Movie?"

"Club."

"Sleep…"

"Touma, you're a party pooper." Shu declared.

"I drove a car for six hours."

"Shu, it is card night. I need you to watch your siblings." his mother called from the kitchen.

"Dammit. I hate card night." He said, heading towards his siblings' rooms.

"That leaves you and me, Shin." Ryo sighed.

"Movie it is." Shin said grabbing his and Ryo's plate.

"Lethal Weapon 3?"

"Sure." Shin said, checking his pockets for money, "Touma, we're borrowing your car."

"Don't break it!"

"We're just going to drive it though a few ditches and drift around." Ryo teased.

"If you were Shu or Seiji, I'd believe you." Touma replied, "Okay, I'm coming now."

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><p>As they were coming near the theater, people were swarming in the streets and sidewalks. They went down a few more streets to look for parking. Touma picked a spot after someone moved out. As Shin was getting out from the back several men showed up.<p>

"Hey man, you can't park there." One with a neck tattoo spoke.

Not taking the guy seriously, Touma laughed, "You going to take it?"

"No, but my friends will."

Shin counted ten altogether, "Hey Touma, we can find another spot. It's not a problem."

He started to get back into the car when one of the men grabbed him. Shin was thrown into one of the gang members.

"We change our mind. We want it." The man said, pulling a knife out.

The leader then charged Touma. Ryo stepped up to hit the guy in the face then stripped the knife from him. Touma kicked another knife wielding man, grabbed him and slammed him at another.

"You picked the wrong guys to rob tonight." He commented before dodging a punch from another.

Shin hit the guy he was thrown into, in the stomach before one of the smaller gang member jumped on his back to choke him. He was trying to pull the guy's arms from his neck as another came at him. Shin dropped to him back, crushing the one on his back before bringing his leg up to stop the other one.

The five left standing ran towards an alley. Sounds of cars could be heard starting, and quickly pulling out towards the warriors.

"Uh, let me drive." Shin said.

Touma tossed him the keys and got into the back of his car. Shin pulled out of the parking spot, and ran though a red light. One of the cars hit another car.

"Shin, you still have one behind you." Touma called out.

"So much for movie night. We're living it." Ryo added.

Shin pulled the emergency brake, causing the car to drift into another street. He straightened it, before doing it again to get onto another street. Touma was being tossed around in the back.

"Shin, go though the golf course!" Ryo called out.

"No!" Touma tried to call out before the glass in the back broke, "They're shooting at us."

The car jumped over a green then again over a patch of dirt. Shin then somehow managed to get the car though a line of trees to another green. They soon came out by a hospital. The other car was stuck in the woods.

Ryo leaned out the window, "Told you guys you weren't getting the car!"

Shin pulled the car around to head back into Yokohama. Touma leaned out the back to see what damage was done to the car.

"Aww, they shot her up." He complained, "How am I supposed to explain this?"

"Just say you ran into the Inagawa-kai." Shin responded.

"Yakuza? That's what those guys were?" Ryo and Touma were shocked.

"They were sloppy members." Shin explained, "We have to learn about their habits in the Maritime Agency. Sorry Touma, you probably don't want to bring the car back to Yamaguchi."

As they pulled up to the Rei Fuan restaurant, Shin handed Touma the keys.

"Sorry about the car again."

"There are sticks and dirt coming out the front." Touma cried.

The trio stopped by Shu's room before heading to bed.

"You guys look like you all just got into a fist fight without me." He smiled.

"Fist fight with a bunch of gang bangers." Ryo added.

"Shin wrecked my car. Worst brother ever."

Shin laughed, "I can help you with getting another one."

"You guys get to have all the fun." He said looking out the window at the nearly broken car.

They decided that sleep was the best idea ever.


	3. Part 1 Ch 3

**Thanks theria (.) net and roninwarrior heaven (.) com for info on the characters families. It would have taken me longer to make up names, or look through FF for the names.**

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><p>When Touma finally woke up, the apartment was quiet. He reached for a shirt, but found none. He instantly assumed it was a prank when he had to walk around in only his boxers. He laid down by the stair case to listen for anyone familiar talking. The other three were chatting away about something in the customer area.<p>

"Phsst!" Touma called, trying to get Ryo's attention.

"Hold on, Touma's awake." Ryo said, getting up.

"Ryo, where'd my clothes go?" Touma asked from atop of the stairs.

"That's a good question. You should ask Shu's younger brother Yun."

"Where's Yun?"

"School."

"Can I borrow some of yours?" Touma pleaded.

"Yeah."

Ryo laughed as he heard Tenku run away. The rejoined the other two. They were arm wrestling again. Both of their faces were red from fighting for a good minute.

"Rock… can't … lose to… water." Shu forced out.

"Stubborn ox… just give up… already."

Shu started to cry out when he watched his hand get closer to the table.

"No…no…dammit!" he let out.

"Yes! Water is officially the strongest warrior!" Shin jumped up, and then stuck a 'royal' pose included with a fake English accent, "I am king. You all will bow to Mori Shin, bearer of Suiko."

Ryo covered his face as Shu sighed.

"Wait until we fight in armor." Shu said.

"No, overconfident Shin doesn't really work does it?" he added, embarrassed.

"No Shin. We like nice quiet Shin who kept Shu in line." Ryo answered before Shu.

"I thought it was wonderful. Shin's finally becoming a man." Touma said coming out from the back of the restaurant.

"Hey."

"Touma's wearing the Milk Ball shirt." Shu laughed, "We finally got him into it."

"Haha. You guys win. Just leaves the King over here the only one who hasn't worn it."

"And you won't get to see me in it. I have to be back in Sendai tomorrow." Shin grinned.

"I'm driving back to your mother's alone, aren't I?" Touma mumbled.

Mama Rei Fuan soon came out from the back, "Okay, we're open now. Shu, take your friends out before they scare away people."

"So now what?" Shu asked.

"Shin's got to go back to work soon, I'm free tomorrow." Touma started.

"I have classes tonight." Ryo added.

"So now we all take the day to return back to where we need to be." Touma finished.

"Yay for Mondays." Ryo sighed, "Alright then. I'll see everyone later I suppose."

"Right, until next time." Shin added.

Only Touma stood outside of the restaurant. He had to wait to get his own clothes back.

"Well automobile, I guess you need a rear window now."

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><p>It didn't take long to find himself in a helicopter again. Shin and his two other counterparts were flying out to rescue a rich couple from their sinking ship. Apparently they had just bought it and had hit something on the way out to sea. Fog had started to appear as well as a cold wind. Shin constantly checked one of his pockets for Suiko. Having the orb with him, made him more daring than most. He was becoming known for just jumping from the helicopter.<p>

"_One minute."_ The pilot called over the radio.

Shin and the other diver were putting their white helmets on, and double checking their equipment.

"They're right there." The other diver, Ichiro, pointed out.

The woman was waving a flashlight from a yellow raft. The husband wasn't with her.

"Jumping in Shin?" Ichiro asked.

"Yes." He said putting goggles on. He then jumped.

"Remind me to ask him if he has any other sisters." The flight engineer, Shiro, said.

"Why's that?"

"So I can avoid marrying into the Mori family."

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><p>The water hit him like needles. It hurt, but he knew he had to ignore it all. Finding the man was important, and he didn't have a whole lot of time. He came up near the raft.<p>

"Ma'am, where was he the last time you saw him?"

"Shiro was grabbing the raft. I couldn't help him up." She cried.

Looking down through the water, Shin still couldn't see anything. He dove under and kept going. Why the man didn't wear a life vest, he didn't know. His job just got harder.

Luckily for the man, Shin wasn't going to give up. Bubbles were floating up towards him, and at the end was the man. Grabbing him by the shirt, Shin started upward. By the time he was near the top, the woman was being lifted into the helicopter. Shin was shivering, as he tried to get the guy into the raft. Uncomfortably, he brought the guy in close hoping to warm the man up and attached the man to his harness. The line soon came back down, and the two were able to get back to the helicopter.

"He's out cold." Shin said as he boarded.

Ichiro, having more energy, started to reciprocate the man.

"Thank you." The woman said to Shin, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Eh, no problem ma'am." Shin replied, blushing.

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><p>Shin soon found himself in a hospital. He had a blanket over his uniform and warm tea in his hand. He volunteered to stay until the woman's husband was awake. What he didn't want was to run into was a one each Date Yayoi.<p>

"Still in Sendai I see, Mr. Mori." She said.

"Yes, I'm thawing out from a swim." He said, hiding behind his cup.

"You are trying to funny, aren't you?"

"No. The water was cold."

"You should come by tonight for dinner if you are not busy."

"You keep asking, and I'll have to decline again. Sorry." Shin said, standing up, "Ugh, thanks for the tea and blankets. I should be heading back to the harbor now."

"I'm still waiting for that date, boy-chama." She called out on purpose.

For that comment, he stopped, turned and winked as innocently as he could manage. He tried not to laugh out loud walking away.

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><p>The next few months went by without too many events. His extreme actions earned him the promotion to Leading Seaman.<p>

It was his next action that made others trust his instincts.


	4. Part 1 Ch 4

**Here's the next one. Do you like it? Should I stop? Let me know. Thanks for reading.**

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><p>It was New Year's Eve and Shin had recently finished his call home. His two month old nephew, Taro, was apparently being loud in the background and confusing Touma about diaper changing. Shin's sister and brother-in-law were out for dinner leaving the genius and Shin's mother at home. His mother had to excuse herself to save Tenku from the golden stream. Touma then told him that quantum mechanics was simpler compared to babies. Then he went on about getting to go to California for school in a few weeks. When Taro was changed, Touma then went back to babysitting.<p>

When Shin got to his cot, he fell asleep quickly. He was tired from training that day and staying up late talking to his mother.

_He was standing, looking to get ready to jump into the ocean. The sounds of the helicopter dimmed, as what he thought he saw was an iceberg. On top were four figures. Suiko stood there ready to defend a person Shin thought he knew from a beast. Standing away from the first three was a swan. Shin though he could hear the swan laughing. The beast stood shorter than Suiko. It looked like a serpent or some lizard holding a tool of some sort. The next thing Shin heard was two shots ring out at Suiko and then one at the figure behind the armor. Then a woman, all in white with ice blue eyes, laughed at him. _

"_I can get you out of your imprisonment." The woman said in English._

Shin shot up. He was sweating and breathing hard, and then he laughed it off. Just a crazy dream he thought. He ran his hand threw his shorten hair.

"Shin, we just got a call." Ichiro called into the room.

Quickly throwing the covers off, he followed his fellow diver.

"What's going on?" Shin asked, grabbing his warm clothing.

"One helicopter heading east; just another bunch of idiots on a boat. The other is heading north to get someone who hit ice." One of the pilots said.

Ichiro smiled, "We're going to play in ice."

Shin stopped, "Hey Ichiro, you should go with the one heading east."

"And miss out on you jumping out?"

"Trust me on this. I have a bad feeling. I'll just run a small crew."

"Aye Leading Seaman." Ichiro teased, even though he was concerned.

Shin arrived at the helicopter. His adrenaline was already going.

"You alright?" the pilot asked.

"Yes sir."

Shin watched his breath come out. The air was unbelievably cold.

"Mori, you're crazy jumping in alone." The flight engineer said.

Shin wasn't paying attention to him. He considered putting Suiko on before jumping in.

"Shin?"

"I'm good. Just can't wait to jump into icy water." He responded, hiding his fear.

"_Five minutes." _The pilot said over the radio.

The flight engineer started to complain about the cold. Shin brought his hood in close, and buckled his helmet tight. He was handed the line to buckle himself into.

"Ready?"

Shin looked at the water, "What other choice do I have?"

He readied himself before walking over the edge. The line went down slowly, until his feet reached the ice. The man was unconscious on the ice when Shin got to him. He checked for injuries, finding nothing but a tattoo of a serpent on the man's neck and face. He didn't have much time to think about it before the ice rose from a wave, knocking the two men into the water.

Feeling the air leave his body as he hit the water, Shin quickly headed back to the surface. He still had the man in his arms. He signaled to be brought up. He was already shivering as he left the water.

He was helped up by the engineer, before proceeding to get the man responsive.

"I need a blanket." Shin said, before taking his wet jacket off.

As he was placing it, he noticed the man raise his arm. In his hand was a pistol.

"Is é an eala ag teacht!" the man yelled.

"What the hell?" Shin heard the engineer say.

Shin watched the gun go from his forehead towards his should, like something was telling the crazed man to not kill him.

Then came the two gun shots. Then came the last one like in his dream. Shin watched the engineer grab his neck. The man, knowing that Shin wasn't dead, pointed it back. Ignoring the shivering, Shin knocked the gun from his hand with his left arm, before hit the man on the side of the head. The co-pilot was already looking back, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Seaman, what's going on?"

"Three gunshots." Shin forced out.

He was trying to put pressure with his left hand on the engineer's neck, while keeping the man down with his knees on the man's chest and pelvis. The pistol was thrown towards the pilots.

"Status?" the pilot called.

"I'm hit twice, and pre-hypothermic. Engineer has wound to neck. Shooter contained." Shin yelled weakly.

"Hold on. We're ten minutes from Sendai."

Shin fought to stay awake. His left arm was getting tired, and he stopped shivering.

"Mori?"

Shin nodded his head, and then fought to bring it back up.

"Mori?"

"Shit, we're losing him." The co-pilot said getting out of his seat.

The warrior of water collapsed.

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><p>When Shin awoke, all he saw was white lights. There was some mask over his face, and his right shoulder was in pain.<p>

"Shin, you awake?" a voice called out.

He slowly turned to see a blonde haired man sitting in a chair, reading the news.

"Seiji?"

"Doctor said to make sure you drink this when you woke." The warrior of light said, leaning over to help him.

Shin coughed after the drink.

"Yayoi called me saying that you were banged up pretty good. Your mother is on a plane at the moment."

"What about the engineer I was with?" Shin asked.

"Don't know." Seiji answered.

"How is he?" a feminine voice called.

"Awake." Seiji answered.

"Poor Shin. How do you feel?"

"Like someone poked a stick through me twice." Shin answered, "Nice to see you Nasuti."

"Likewise, I just wish it was at better conditions."

Shin let out a weak laugh, "I do too. How have you two been?"

"Stressing out about the dojo." Seiji answered.

"You don't know do you?" Nasuti asked.

"About what? You two getting married?"

"Oh good. I didn't know if someone had the chance to tell you." Nasuti sighed.

Shin laughed, "I still think you should marry me instead. I don't stress out as much as this guy."

Seiji snorted.

"No, but if you came home every night like this, I would stress." Nasuti shot back.

"True." Shin sighed, "I suppose that's why I'm still single."

"If you married my sister, you'd have your own personal doctor to watch you." Seiji commented.

"Seiji!"

"What? It's true. You are all she talks about after she sees you." Seiji then put his hands together to mock his sister, "Oh Boy-chama, I secretly love you and your sailor uniform. I'll heal your gunshot wounds."

Shin sat in silence, while Nasuti gave the blonde a glare.

"And while we're talking about getting shot at, why don't you fill us in about getting shot at in Yokohama?"

"Seiji! That's enough!" Nasuti yelled, "I'm so sorry Shin. We'll come back at a later time."

She grabbed the warrior of light and dragged him out of the room. Well, Shin thought, Seiji was still mad at him. He laid there in the silence, until Ichiro walked in.

"You look like death." He commented.

Shin mumbled, "I feel like it. How's the engineer that was on board?"

"No one told you? He bled out after you collapsed." Ichiro moved to take the chair Seiji was in, "Don't take it personally though. You did more than I could."

Shin's left hand was in a fist. He had turned from his friend trying to fight tears that were forming.

"What about the shooter?" Shin asked.

"Some Irishman smuggling drugs and guns. Why he was near Japan, I don't know. The police are having fun with him down at the jail."

Shin let out a long sigh. The pain in his arm was becoming too much.

"Can you leave me please?" Shin broke the silence.

"Yeah, sure. If you need anything I'll be around."

As soon as the door closed, the warrior broke down.


	5. Part 1 Ch 5

**There's a time skip in here, not to confuse anyone. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>When Shin woke up the next morning, his mother sat there knitting. He couldn't tell what it was yet, but he could put a hefty bet that it was for him. He could tell from her face, that she was up for long hours and had cried.<p>

"Mom would you like something?" he asked, knowing that he could get a nurse to grab them food.

"Ryuusuke is grabbing us tea." She answered with a straight tone of voice. Shin couldn't tell what she was thinking, but it wasn't good.

They both sat in silence waiting for Ryuusuke to return.

"They didn't give me milk like you wanted Mom." The brother-in-law said, walking in with his hands full, "Hey you're awake."

Everyone could hear Shin's stomach rumble.

"Guess it's a good thing I did wake up." Shin smiled.

"And your horrible humor is still bad." The older man responded.

"Shin," his mother started, "Who is this Ms. Date who works here. She comes in often to check on you and she's not your doctor."

Shin blushed, "Just a friend's older sister. I see her a lot after dropping off those we picked up."

His mother continued to look at her knitting, "You should invite her in when she comes by. She is well mannered."

"Mom."

"Well, I'm not getting any younger. And as much as I love that you are doing what you love, you are still the only Mori heir. My poor heart can't take it all at once." She had stopped her knitting, "Darling, I just don't like you getting hurt."

Shin frowned, "I have another year before I can get out. I'll be home afterwards."

"Now, I have to go find me some bloody milk." She laughed, getting up, "They'll know not to tell an English woman 'no milk.'"

Ryuusuke laughed, "She just got her way with you."

"She does it well when she wants something." Shin sighed, "I haven't found a way around it yet."

"Me neither. Even worse is that your sister does it too. We men need to stick together."

They both laughed.

"How's Taro?" Shin asked.

"He's cute. He is taking after me in good looks and smarts."

"And my sister?"

"She is dreading turning thirty. She found her first gray hair and freaked out." He laughed, "I just hope that Mori men don't bald. You'll look forward to that."

Shin smiled, "No, it's not the Mori side, it is my mom's side of the family is what I'm worried about. I think it has to do with the women in the family."

They were both laughing hard, when Shin cringed in pain. His brother-in-law then laughed harder.

"What are you two laughing about?" Shin's mother walked in.

They both stopped laughing, knowing that if they were to tell, they'd never hear the end of it.

"Nothing mom, just telling jokes." Shin lied.

"Yes, I suppose you'll both tell me later."

* * *

><p>Two weeks passed before Shin was allowed to leave. He was uncomfortable with having his right arm tied to himself, but he supposed that it was better than missing it. His coat hung awkwardly letting the cold enter. He quickly remembered how cold the winter was.<p>

While standing outside of the hospital, Yayoi caught up to him before he could get a taxi.

"Mr. Mori, where are you going?" she asked, out of breath.

"Back to post."

"Want to go to lunch with me?" she asked.

Shin thought about for a moment, and then smiled, "Why not. I'm not exactly busy at the moment."

The blonde woman looped her arm around Shin's left arm, "How about somewhere you can use a fork? There's a new burger shop that opened."

"Sounds great." He said, letting her lead him to the bus station.

Shin watched as all the veggies on his burger fell out of the bun as he tried to eat it for the fourth time. Giving up, he started to eat it with a fork after Yayoi was giggling.

"This burger hates me." Shin frowned, "Seiji isn't going to be mad with you if you're with me, is he?"

"Seiji's being pulled around in different directions to even notice. He has Grandfather at him all day while trying to plan a wedding. Most of his thoughts are Grandfather's words. Nasuti and Satsuki are even feeling it a bit. He'll come around."

Shin played with a tomato on his plate, "How'd he react to Touma heading to America?"

Yayoi laughed, "Not at all like he reacted to you joining the Maritime Agency, but again, Grandfather didn't feed him with ideas on Touma."

The waitress soon brought the bill to the table. Shin grabbed it before the Date woman could.

"Please, I can pay for it." She begged, "I invited you out."

"How would I look letting you pay for me to your Grandfather?" Shin smiled, "And besides, you listened to me talk about everything without judging."

"Alright then," she sat back in her seat, "But next time I pay."

"Nay love, as an Englishman, I shall treat you like a queen."

"You're half English." She reminded him.

"Yes, but I try sometimes."

"Mr. Mori, you are a sweetheart." She giggled as they stood.

"Please, just Shin." He corrected.

"Alright Shin, I will continue to wait for you to ask me on that date you owe me."

He laughed as she continued her tradition.

* * *

><p>Office duty was boring Shin found. He was put in the radio room waiting for some poor soul to call SOS. He would then let the crews know to go. Wasn't the dream job he wanted, but he had to do something for the next five months. His right arm was out of the sling, but he was told to not lift heavy objects.<p>

Taking another glace at the clock, Shin couldn't wait to get off work in ten minutes. One thing the desk job gave him was a night life. He had a suit ready to take Yayoi out to a nice dinner by the harbor.

_Suiko…_

Shin jumped in his chair, and turned around. Nothing was there. He remembered the voice though; the woman's voice from his dream a month ago.

_Suiko, you haven't forgotten me yet have you?_

Shin stood, and took a peek at the hallway. He sat down, thinking that he was going crazy in the small room.

_Beidh mé leat saor in aisce ó do bpríosún._

"What do you want?" Shin called out in English.

Shin got up and looked out at the hallway again. No one was there. There was five minutes left on the clock.

"It's not even the middle of the night, and I'm hearing things." He said to himself.

"Hey Mori, I'm here." His replacement said yawning, "Enjoy your date."

"Thanks." Shin replied, scratching his head.

Changing into black slacks and a white collared shirt, Shin almost ran out forgetting about a jacket. He grabbed his beige one, as well as his orb. He was able to get a taxi within minutes. With the time in the taxi, he put his dark blue tie on. Taking aspirin out of his pocket, he took two to kill the pain his in shoulder from hurrying.

He arrived early at the dojo. Seiji answered the door, to let him in. He was also dressed nice.

"Yayoi is still getting ready." He said.

"Ok." Shin spoke. He wasn't expecting Seiji and Nasuti to come along.

Nasuti came out to greet him, "Shin, how are you?"

"I'm good," he said, "I think. I may need your help later with something."

"Shin, do you need womanly advice about relationships?" Nasuti put her hands on her hips.

Shin put his hands in front of him, "No, _other_ stuff."

He grabbed his orb to make sure she knew.

"Oh, sorry." She said embarrassed, "Yeah, Seiji and I can go through it all with you later."

Seiji and Yayoi soon came out.

"We're ready." Yayoi said.

Seiji opened the front door, grabbing Shin after letting the girls out first.

"You disgrace my sister tonight, and I will end you. Got it?" he whispered in Shin's ear.

Shin nodded, as the blonde let him go, "I was not planning this going any farther than dinner."

Seiji gave him a small smile, "I didn't think you would."

As the dinner went along, Shin realized why Seiji and Nasuti were invited. It was time away from the family that let them relax. And maybe some of the wine was helping, because Seiji had commented about Shin looking like Freddy Mercury without the tight clothing and moustache. The red head was going to demonstrate his singing as well, before Yayoi reminded him that he was in a restaurant.

_Suiko… look out the window, dear. _Hearing the voice, Shin did turn to look out the window. Standing above the water was the white woman from his dream.

_Come to me Suiko. I can free you from you prison._

"Excuse me guys. I need to get some air." Shin stood.

Seiji watched him head towards the beach. He jumped from the seat when he watched Shin jump into the water.

"Shin?" he called.

The two women were left confused.

Shin dragged himself out of the water soon as he couldn't see the white woman.

"Shin, what the hell is going on?" Seiji said controlling his volume.

"I keep hearing this voice. This time she was out here standing right here. I lost my mind then." Shin tried to explain.

"Well, why don't we get you home since it is February and you're soaking wet." Seiji said taking his jacket off to give it to the very wet Shin.

The four were getting strange looks as Shin was dripping water everywhere in the restaurant. Seiji told the taxi driver to blast the heat.

* * *

><p>After wishing Yayoi good night, Shin was dragged into an office. Seiji closed the door and locked it.<p>

"Okay Shin," he crossed his arms, "Explain why jumping into the ocean in February without your wet suit was a good idea."

"I had this dream New Years before the shooting incident. The woman in white was there as well as Suiko, a serpent beast, as a stranger that I later recognized as the man that died that night, and a swan. The serpent turned out to be an Irish gang member, but that woman in white appeared near the end. Then I woke." Shin opened his eyes after retelling the story.

"Was this what you asked me earlier to help with?" Nasuti asked.

"It is."

"Doesn't stink of Youja." Seiji commented.

"No, because the woman in white speaks English and some other language." Shin added.

"Anything else?" Nasuti asked.

"She… has an accent, not like my mother when she speaks English; more like the Irishman."

"Well, I don't know how much info about Irish tales is on my Grandfather's computer, but I can try to find something." Nasuti said.

Shin nodded, "I suppose I should head back. I have work at six."

"I'll find you if I find anything." Nasuti said.

Seiji escorted him out of the room. He grabbed the phone to call another taxi.

"Are you going to be good? I can call Ryo and Shu." Seiji spoke softly.

"Yeah, we should get them here." Shin answered. He was rubbing his head.

"Well, good night."

"Good night." Shin said. He headed out the door to wait on the taxi.


	6. Part 1 Ch 6

**Here's the next chapter. Anyone in Germany having problems with the ads? I keep getting ads with viruses in them and FF hasn't responded to my email yet... Hmm. I'm lucky that I have anti-virus.**

* * *

><p>Lying in his cot, Shin was starring at the ceiling. His shift was going to start in a few hours. Trying to sleep was difficult. The strange white woman was on his mind, and not in a good way. She didn't try to harm him at the dinner, but at the same time, he felt like she entered his mind. He hated not being able to figure out who the woman was. He told himself to thank Nasuti next time for taking time out of her day to look his problem up. He should probably thank Suiko too. People don't just readjust their aim with a weapon on purpose.<p>

Shin sat up. There were too many things on his mind to be lying in bed. Grabbing his uniform and shower things, he headed to the showers.

He was about to shave when someone came running in.

"Mori, we need you at the ships. We just got a large accident in the bay." A sailor called out.

Not wanting to look like a rabid dog, Shin used a towel to rub the cream off. He had another bad feeling about this accident.

Sure enough, there was a large ship in the bay on fire. He was told to get on one of the boats to help with injuries coming from the water. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Shin made sure put the under gear on. He felt like he was going to need Suiko.

People were being brought up from the water as an explosion went off.

"There's still people on the ship." Someone called.

By that time, Shin was already in the water ignoring the cold and pain. Without the extra gear, he was going to fit into the openings of the ship. He was going through the compartments with ease, until something grabbed his foot, dragging him down. The strange white woman was there with an evil smirk. She pulled him from the ship and into empty water. Shin's lungs were aching from lack of air. His left hand moved to a pocket, and he called on Suiko. The woman smiled and started to swim south. Taking a chance, he followed.

Another explosion from the ship was heard.

* * *

><p>Yayoi was watching everything from a television in a patient's waiting room. When the second explosion went off, she began to worry. She went for the closet phone.<p>

A very tired Seiji picked up, "Moshi moshi."

"Seiji, get to the closest TV you can."

"Yayoi, it's five in the morning. What's going on?"

"Boat accident in the harbor."

Rolling his eye, Seiji told her that he'll meet her at the hospital.

"Holy bat-smokes Batman!" Was Seiji's response to seeing what was happening in the harbor.

"You think Shin's there?" Yayoi asked.

"Knowing him, he's close by or in it."

That evening, Yayoi called the Maritime Agency. She wanted to make sure Shin was fine.

"No ma'am, we have Leading Seaman Mori Shin down as missing."

"Are you sure he's missing?" she begged.

"Yes ma'am. No body was found."

Seiji could tell what the answer was, although he couldn't believe it. Yayoi sat down on a chair with her head in her hands. Their younger sister gave her a hug. The phone went off again.

"Hello." Seiji picked up, "Yeah Shu, he's listed as missing… No, I think something else came up… Listen, my sister's a wreck right now. I'll talk later."

* * *

><p>Two o'clock in the morning, Seiji heard the phone again.<p>

"Touma, I swear if you keep calling me in the morning." He threatened.

"I just saw on TV that Fish-boy is missing. Okay, his mom just called me crying and stuff. Shin's messed up this time." Touma responded.

"Yeah, couldn't you have waited a few hours?"

"No, I knew you'd be sleeping now." Touma teased.

"Someone's happy."

"Oh, I'm currently on the beach in hot weather illegally drinking tequila and listening to some rock music. Life's good."

"Is that beach in a library?"

"No, for real. California is a blast. We're rocking out. School's too easy so I can hang out in the sun more often. I'm thinking about bleaching my hair and taking up surfing."

"Ok, I'm going to hang up now." Seiji said, pulling the earphone away. Touma could be heard yelling at him.

The phone rang again.

"Dude, if you and the others are that worried about Shin, go jump in the water and search for Suiko. If he was killed, then the orb should be lying in wait for someone to find it. I don't think he'd disappear without a good reason, right?" Touma said.

"You're right. When it warms up, I'll search for it."

"Super-brain is at it again, dude."

"Dude?"

"Eh, sorry Mr. Proper."

"I don't think he's dead. Shin was talking about voices and things."

"Youja?"

"No, we'd all know. He was hinting to fairy tales."

"Fairy tales, like singing animals and chairs?"

"Touma, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, well my drink is empty. Catch ya later Seiji."

Seiji place the phone down, and went back to bed.

* * *

><p>He didn't know where he was, but that the water was warmer, and the islands were green. He stopped on one to grab something to eat, but could only find bananas or fish if he was brave to catch them. It had been a few weeks as well, because he felt like Byauken was on his face. His hair was longer, and with the heat, he was uncomfortable. But the white woman was still heading south, and he had to know what was going on. Placing his helmet on the sand, Shin decided to take in the warmth. If he was heading towards where he was thinking, the water was about to get colder again. He closed his eyes to listen to the waves.<p>

"No time to stop Suiko." The woman spoke right in front of him.

Shin shot up with his trident in his left hand. By then the woman was in the water heading south.

"Can't a guy get some rest on a stranded island?"

He continued his chased southward.

By the time he found land, Shin knew that he had to stop following the woman. Suiko had stopped supporting him with energy, and the sandy beach looked nice enough to sleep on. He let the armor disperse, leaving him in his wet uniform.

Unknown to the warrior of water, an elder woman was walking by. She had seen a lot of strange things in her life, but a man in armor falling asleep on the beach was not normal. Making sure the man was okay, she poked him with her cane.

"Īe hahaoya wa arimasen. Sore wa, shigoto-yō no wa jiki shōsōda." She heard him say.

She then poked him harder, "Dear, the beach is no place to fall asleep."

Shin popped his head up. Turning his head to look at the person waking him, he noticed the woman standing there. Her hair was gray, and she was wearing a light jacket.

Remembering that she spoke English to him, he spoke, "Where am I?"

"Dear, you're outside of Grisbane."

"Grisbane?"

"New Zealand, dear." She added, "I don't know where you came from or what you were wearing before it came off, but you better join me at home for a cup of tea or coffee. You can shower there as well. I have a feeling you have a long story to tell."

Not wanting to argue, Shin agreed. It was an uncomfortable walk for them both.

After taking the long awaited shower, Shin used his fingers to comb his hair and beard. If he was going to spend some awkward time with the older woman, he was at least going to look decent. Outside the washroom door was a set of clothes. He started to feel bad about using the women's things. After getting dressed, he walked out. Along the hall were pictures. He assumed they were her family.

"Here darling, I made you some tea." She said, moving a chair for him, "Now, what's your name?"

"Shin."

"Where are you from Shin?"

"Japan."

"Well that was a long swim."

Shin didn't comment.

"You my call me Maggie." She said, "I hope you didn't mind the clothes. They were my son's."

"You live here alone?"

"Yes. The old man died a few years ago and my children all grew up and moved to the cities." She frowned, "I don't receive many visitors, and certainly no one that washes up on the beach."

"Right, I owe you a long story."

She nodded.

Not going into detail about everything, Shin explained what the older woman had seen. She must have thought he was crazy, but she said not one word except for asking if he needed more tea. When he finished, they both sat in silence.

"Well I suppose I should show you to your room for the night. You're welcome to stay the night, and if you're willing, I have a problem that needs fixed." The older woman said.

"What do you need help with?" Shin asked.

"Oh, the rabbits keep getting into my garden. I've been meaning to find someone to fix it, but I don't have a whole lot of money or a strong back to do it myself."

"I can help in the morning, although, I'm not great at it." Shin stood to fix his chair, "Thank you Maggie."

"Sleep well."

It didn't take long until the woman in white was in his dreams again. She was repeating the same sentence as before. Shin began to question her this time.

_Who are you?_

_You will learn in time Suiko. What I have to offer though, will make you a happier man. Continue south, where the ocean meets the cold desert._

_Why can't you tell me now?_

_What fun would that be?_

_I've swam many kilometers. I'm tired of following._

_Suiko, I will make this time of suffering better. Trust me._

Shin woke in the morning a bit angry. He was starting to think the woman was planning some trick.

Not wanting to wake the kind, elder woman, Shin headed out to the garden to see what he needed to do. Maggie had a wire fence that surrounded the garden and there were several holes under the wire where the rabbits dug through. He understood that his he just filled the holes that the rabbits would dig under again. He just wished that Touma was here to help him out with what to do. Seeing a small shed, Shin walked over to find something to help him with his problem. As he opened the door, a cloud of dust came out. There wasn't much inside but some old tools and more fencing. He assumed that Maggie's husband used the shed the most. Grabbing a shovel and the fencing, he decided to extend the fence down into the dirt.

He spent most of the morning doing that and cleaning the garden up a bit. He didn't mind it; it reminded him of helping his mother when he was young. Of course, cabbages and carrots were different than flowers.

"Shin, dear," he heard Maggie call, "I have lunch ready."

Leaning back, Shin stretched his back.

"Coming." He said, getting some of the dirt off of his hands.

They both ate in silence. They both knew that Shin wasn't going to stay another night. He had a crazy woman to chase after.

After finishing, he stood to take his and Maggie's plate to wash. The elder woman offered to take him back to the beach.

"That's south." She pointed.

"Thank you for everything." Shin bowed his head.

"Please, you made my year. I don't have many visitors anymore." She said, "Be safe, Mr. Shin Mori. You seem to live a dangerous life fighting spirits and ghosts."

Shin nodded, and called him armor back. Soon he was in the water.

* * *

><p>He didn't know how long it took him to reach Antarctica. Once he got there, the woman in white sat on the ice, grinning.<p> 


	7. Part 1 Ch 7

As Shin readjusted to the ice, he carefully walked closer to the woman. His weapon was ready to defend himself if needed.

"Okay, I'm here." He said, as the wind blew snow around, "What have you been talking about?"

"You've been born into a family with a purpose. That armor you wear has been passed down, and each bearer has died using it; am I correct?"

"For the most part, yes."

Walking close to him, the woman spoke again, "I can free you from it; the curse, the duty. I just need you to do something for me." One of her fingers ran down his chest plate, "I've been where you are now. I was cursed with a burden I didn't want. It's difficult being the daughter of the sea."

"Who are you? I'm not entirely cultured to Irish folk lore."

"You may call me Nuala." She smiled, "Come Suiko, help me."

Her face was inching closer to his. He was slowly losing his will of thinking. Her hair and loose clothes followed the wind.

"Melt this ice; flood the world with the pain you have endured with this armor and you can live happily without the burden it gives you." With each word their faces got closer. Shin felt at peace near the spirit but something in the back of his mind was screaming to get free.

Their lips were almost touching when Shin broke away, "No. I live to protect this world. I can't destroy it."

"But I've heard your dreams. You hesitated against the African warrior, lost to a man who was born of man and snake, barely beat a man in the snow and told an angry soul that you were a not meant to fight. I can give you a world where you would not have to wear this armor to fight."

Shin's eye grew large, "You're asking me to flood the world. What kind of life would I have if I was left alone?" He fell into a fighting stance, "Explain that."

"Fool. You'll die for your disobedience." She said, sending spikes of ice at the warrior.

Cutting most of them down, he brought water up from the ocean with his weapon. Forcing it at the spirit, he followed with his weapon to attack. Ice came up to catch his ankles, causing his helmet to come off. Grabbing it with his left hand, he threw it at the spirit.

"Stop running and fight me." He yelled.

"Sorry Suiko." She smiled.

Getting up, he chased after her on the ice. His nose and ears were red from the cold, and his breath was freezing to his beard. He could feel his eyes begin to freeze over. His run became a slow jog as his lungs were not used to the cold air of the Antarctic.

"You're not fun, if you're just going to die here in the cold." She teased.

The ice under him started to crack. He placed his trident into the ice to stabilized himself.

"Have fun watching the icebergs break off." She said, leaving him on the separated chunk of ice.

Angry, he raised his weapon.

"Cho Ryu Haaa!" the spirit heard, before crashing into the ice.

Tidal waves carrying the broken ice shelf crashed around the both of them. Bringing the water around the both of them, Shin created a wall of ice. Jumping towards the top of the wall, he was about to send the spirit to a frozen grave.

"Wait!" she called. A high pitched scream could be heard from far off.

Ignoring her calls, Shin brought the walls down upon the spirit. The walls collapsed, trapping the spirit, but also dragging Shin along with her. Dropping his weapon, he tried to grasp the ledge but fell when the ice broke. A deep strange laugh was heard as he continued to fall.

* * *

><p>Standing at the harbor, Seiji, Ryo and Shu were decided who was going to jump in the water to look for the missing trooper's orb. May had brought warmer weather that was ideal for going in.<p>

"I can't swim guys." Shu said, looking at the water.

"Rekka doesn't do well in water." Ryo added in.

"You guys are going to make me do it, aren't you?" Seiji asked.

"Do you have a better excuse?" Shu questioned.

"I don't like getting wet?" Seiji responded, knowing the other two were going to through him in.

Sure enough, he found himself in the water with Korin on. As he searched for something, a painful vision came. It was of Shin fighting in the snow and then falling through. Now knowing that Suiko was not in the bay, he swam up.

"Did you get it too?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah. He's somewhere really cold." Seiji added.

"Then we should call Nasuti and Touma and tell them to come back to Japan?" Shu asked.

Seiji laughed, "And tell Touma that his 'school year' is over?"

"Well, yeah. Shin just got blasted. We need to find him." Ryo said, "The vision narrows it down."

"To what?" Shu asked, "There's no more snow here in Japan.

"Siberia?" Ryo added.

"I was thinking poles." Seiji added, "And since it's almost summer in the northern hemisphere, I'm going to bet that he's at the southern one."

"You want us to go to Antarctica?" Shu spat out, "No way man. There's no way there."

"Well if Shin found a way there, then we need to." Ryo spoke quietly, "We can't just leave him there by himself."

"Alright." Seiji started, "I'll give Nasuti a call before she heads to work in the morning."

"Ugh, all this talking about snow and ice is making me hungry." Shu spoke after a moment of silence.

"Soup?" Ryo suggested.

"Yup." The other two agreed.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Ryo and Shu were waiting for Seiji to get off the phone with Nasuti. She was on another trip to the U.N. in New York City. Seiji was trying to convince her to get them on a flight to the Antarctic. From the sounds coming out of the office, it sounded like Seiji was losing. He walked out of the room with a sad look.<p>

"No luck?" Ryo asked.

"No, she told me that she does not have the ability to get us on a C-130. We don't have anything to do with science."

"Damn Touma, he could have given her something." Shu shook his fist, "When is school over there anyways?"

"June."

"Well, it looks like Shin screwed the pooch on that one. Now we'll have to get to the South Pole to look for Suiko." Shu sighed.

"Listen Shu, just because we had that vision, doesn't mean Shin's dead. We can't just give up on him." Ryo spoke after he stood, "He's one of us."

"Maybe he should have let us known where he was going so we could follow." Shu argued back.

"Yeah because we would have all swam to the South Pole." Seiji added.

"Why not?"

"One, you said earlier that you can't swim. Two, we're not marathon swimmers like Shin is. We would have had to stop once we hit open waters. I know Korin can't make long swims."

"Toryuki." Ryo spoke softly.

"Who what now?" Shu spat out.

Seiji laughed at Ryo's suggestion, "Now you're going crazy. We don't know where to look for him or if he's still around. Shin blasted him pretty good."

"But if anyone is good with ice, it would be him."

"We should just ask the Masho to go since we're talking about past baddies." Shu added.

Ryo and Seiji put their hands to their faces.

"How could we forget about them?" Ryo said.

"Shu, you are a genius."

"Score! Now we have to find a way to tell them." Shu added.

The trio sat in silence.

"I hate feeling useless." Shu finally spoke.

Ryo and Seiji agreed.


	8. Part 1 Ch 8

**Any thoughts about the story so far?**

* * *

><p>The sounds of footsteps woke him. Painfully opening his eyes, he saw a man dressed in furs, with a gold crown. The man's red hair and green eyes stood out. Seeing him, Shin thought he was in the middle of a Shakespeare play. Or in front of a mirror, he thought.<p>

"Get up Warrior of Water. We have much to talk about." The man said. He too had the same accent as Nuala.

Slowly getting up, Shin noticed he was still in his armor. He was missing his helmet and trident. The armor also felt heavier than normal.

"You shall not need your armor here." The man said as though he was reading Shin's mind.

The man headed down a tunnel of ice and rock. Not knowing what to expect, Shin followed with his guard up.

"I am the Ocean and the Sea. I go by many names as every human culture has a name for me. For now though, you may call me Lir. The woman in white you was fighting was my daughter, Fionnuala. I apologize for her actions."

Shin decided to not comment. He was still trying to grasp the ideal of many names being one deity.

"What we are about to do is bring you close to the one who involved you in his plans but not close enough to know you are on his threshold."

"What?"

"Whatever reason Fionnuala brought you to the southern pole, was part of some preparation of something bigger. Something else is leading it, and you are just a pawn. But I am about to turn a pawn into a stronger piece."

"You're talking about chess?"

"Metaphorically, yes. Do you play it?"

"I'm not great at it." Shin grinned, "And the other team's King?"

"Donn, Lord of the Dead. He is bored and decided to overthrow me by replacing me with you, hence why Fionnuala was tricked into convincing you to flood the world. He knew a human commanding the water would bring him more souls to play with."

"So if we're talking about chess, he can't steal a pawn from the other team and use it."

"No, but this is not completely like chess either." The man laughed.

"What about the other… gods I guess? Can't you ask them to help?" Shin asked.

"Unfortunately no. But we do have one thing he does not."

"What?"

"You and your looks." Lir said turning around.

"You want me to convince him that I'm you?"

"Yes. You even have the beard to look the part. If you can fool him long enough that will gives us enough time to counter him after I go looking for my sons."

"Checkmate with the real King?"

"Yes, now you get it."

Shin thought some more, "Where are they?"

"In the Otherworld. I must bring them back to seal them away." He moved a wall from the tunnel, "Here we are."

Shin looked through. It looked like London, but in all white.

"London, England? You're bringing me there?"

"Far enough away to keep your armor safe but close enough to convince him that you are me protecting the coasts."

"And if this fails?"

"You have your armor and a lousy sense of humor. You can keep him busy for a week or two. Just do not use the armor of water. You are free to walk around with other humans. We spirits and gods tend to be around people to keep up with the times." Then the ocean spirit smiled, "While you are in London, you should try some of the ales."

"Is there anything else I should do to keep his attention in London?"

"I will take care of that. Just stay out of trouble and act like a king."

Shin frowned before he left the tunnel. He was blinded by light.

* * *

><p>When he could see again, Shin found himself outside of a library. He was out of his armor and in the clothing he was given back in New Zealand. He stuck out like a sore thumb.<p>

"How nice of him to put me in front of a library." Shin said out loud to himself.

Walking in, he noticed an elder man behind a desk.

"Excuse me, sir," Shin started, "I'm looking for a certain Irish tale."

"Ah, which one? There's plenty I can set you up with." The man sat back in his chair, and readjusted his glasses.

"I don't know the title, but it has to do something with Lir."

"_The Children of Lir_. Follow me. It's a bit of a sad one."

The man walked directly to the bookcase. He started looking through the titles and grabbed one.

"Here you are. Need anything else?" The man returned to his desk.

"No thanks." Shin said, flipping through the pages.

Sure enough, the book explained his dream he had a few months ago. The swan was Fionnuala. That was her curse along with her brothers. One thing it he still didn't understand was why the spirit was helping the Lord of the Dead. Closing the book, he placed it on a rack. He was about to walk out, but stopped to ask the old man where the nearest bar was. He was pointed in some direction. Pulling out his wallet, he realized that he only had yen on him. He sighed, and asked for the nearest bank. His fifteen minute walk became an hour after trying to find somewhere to get money.

Walking into the pub, Shin asked for a phone.

"There's a telephone outside, love." The woman behind the bar said.

"Do you have change?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Shin said, getting the change.

He walked to the phone booth, and dialed a number.

"Mori Pottery House." A tired Japanese voice was heard.

"Sayoko."

"Shin? Where the hell have you been? It's nine at night here."

"Lots of places. I'm in London at the moment."

"Did you desert? I swear if you tarnished the Mori name…" Sayoko started to sound angry.

"No, armor thing came up." Shin sighed, "I know I should have called sooner, but I'm doing so now."

Shin kept the talk short, figuring that his sister was about to head to bed. He then dialed another number.

"Touma, I swear," the voice on the other line threatened, "You could have called at another time when it's not dark outside."

"What and miss getting yelled at?" Shin laughed.

"Shin?" Seiji spat out, "Where in earth are you?"

"London."

"As in London, England?"

"Yeah." Shin said. He could hear Shu in the background yelling, and another voice laughing.

"We thought you were dead or something. We all had visions of you in Antarctica."

"Yeah, I'll explain later."

"You better Suiko. I had to jump into cold water and ice to search for you." He heard.

"Who was that?"

Seiji laughed, "A very angry Anubisu."

"You were that worried about me that you called him?"

"Well yeah, we had no other way of getting to the South Pole." Seiji spoke in a defensive manner.

Shu took the phone from Seiji, "Hey Fish-boy, what the hell are you doing? You had us sick and worried."

"Do you mind giving the phone back to someone who isn't going to yell on the phone?" Shin said, pulling the ear piece away.

When Seiji was put back on the phone, Shin explained what had happened. Putting more change into the phone, he continued saying that they should probably head to London when able.

"Yeah, we'll call Touma as well. Be careful."

"I will. For now, I'm heading to a pub. Cheers." Shin laughed.

"You and Touma should be related." Was Seiji's good-bye.

Before leaving the booth, Shin looked out, only to see a dark haired man on a corner. He had a serpent tattoo like the man in Japan did. The warrior of water left the booth and back into the pub, and waited to see if the man followed. Sure enough, the man did, and sat away from Shin.

"What can I get you, love?" the bartender asked.

"How about the Porter?" Shin said, remembering what Lir had said.

"So, where are you from?" she asked.

"Japan."

"Really? You sure don't look like it."

"My mother's English."

"Ahh, visiting family then?"

"Yes." Shin lied, "I have some cousins that live here."

Shin heard the door open again. A couple of guys walked in.

"Afternoon." The bartender said.

"Kelly I swear you better have an ale ready for us." One of the men said.

"I do. Right on time again, might I add."

The two guys sat on the other side of the bar. They went on talking about their recent job at sea. Shin stuck to his own before one of the men spoke about him.

"Who's this wanker?"

"Be nice Geoff. He's from Japan."

"Is he? Can you fight then? Some ninja skills?"

Shin looked at them and gave them a small grin, "Not if I have to."

"Hey, I know you." The other one, Tom, spoke, "He's the bloke that jumped out of the helicopter when our ship went down. I can never forget a face. What's your name, Murray?"

"Mori." Shin corrected and then recognized him, "You're the guy who wouldn't let me save you. You kept holding me underwater as I was trying to get you to the raft."

"That's right; sorry about that, mate. I was terrified I was going to drown. What are you doing here?"

"Vacation." Shin continued with his lie.

"Geoff, this is the kind of guy we need around us," The man said, "Hey Kelly, his next one is on me."

They spent the next couple of hours talking about random things that had happened at sea. Shin would on occasion, look to see if the tattooed man was still there. He felt disappointed when the man was.

"What are you doing tonight?" Tom asked.

"Trying to find a hotel before I go to Canterbury in the morning." Shin said.

"There's a great club some of us go to after a long trip. You should come."

Shin laughed, "I'm sorry, I'll have to decline this time."

"Come on, the least we can bloody do is take our savior out."

Shin continued to decline.

"Alright then. Kelly, can we get some chips over here?" Tom asked.

"Sure thing, love."

* * *

><p>A few pints later, Shin paid his small tab. He probably drank a bit too more than he was wanting, but a free drink was a free drink. And he got a good place to stay for the night. The two sailors hooked him up with a hotel not far from the train station. Although he wasn't really heading to Canterbury, he knew that if the others showed up, he could take the tube to Heathrow.<p>

As he was enjoying the wet night, he kept his ears open for the tattooed man. He knew that he was being followed, but didn't know if the guy was going to do something. Taking another street, Shin slipped into a corner. In his drunken state, Shin was tired of being followed. The man also took the corner, but was surprised when a fist came at his head.

The man cried out, before sending one of his own out. Feeling it hit him, Shin recovered to knee the man in the stomach and then slammed him into a wall. People had scattered from the fight.

"Alright, who are you?"

"You're worst nightmare, Lir." The guy said.

'Good,' Shin thought, 'Donn took the bait.'

"Too bad for you, I'm too drunk to dream tonight." Shin said, hitting the man at the neck.

Taking the man's hoodie, Shin covered his head. The man smelt like cigarettes. Or maybe it was him after being the pub.

Shin took a taxi to the hotel. His left hand hurt from punching the guy as well as his face from taking a hit. He was sure that he scarred the lady at the hotel lobby when he walked in.

"Reservation for Shin Mori." He said.

"One moment." The woman said, having a look of disgust on her face. She soon came back, "Three nights?"

"Yes."

"Second floor. Enjoy." She said.

Shin grabbed the key and headed for bed.


	9. Part 1 Ch 9

**Sorry about taking a while to put the next chapter up. Work's been crazy.**

* * *

><p>Waking up early in the morning, Shin gave the Date family another call. He was suprised when Seiji's little sister picked up.<p>

"Hey Shin. Seiji's out training with Ryo and Shu." She said.

"Can you get one of them, please?" he asked.

"Hold on."

Shin was lying on his bed with the news on. He had been drinking water all morning. Oddly enough, his small fight was caught on camera. No one could make out faces, but it gave him a quick laugh.

"Shin, what's going on?" Ryo asked.

"You guys coming?"

"Yeah. We'll be there in a day or so. Touma's getting a flight as well."

"Great. Can you guys try to get my passport before you leave? I sort of don't have it with me."

"How's London?"

"Raining. I've already been in a fist fight with someone. It's on the news at the moment." Shin grinned.

"Good going. Already getting in trouble and you don't have a passport. What have you done with the real Shin?"

"The guy was working for the bad guys. They're watching me." Shin defended himself, "I'm just going to hide out in my hotel room until all of you come."

"Good thinking. You have a number we can reach you at?" Ryo asked. The sounds of paper could be heard.

Shin let him know the room's number, and got the flight information. He soon found himself watching a Monty Python marathon for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Waiting for their connection in Frankfurt, the trooper trio was stuck with watching news. There were some pictures of a bomb that went off in some Italian city.<p>

"You'd think they'd add some color in here." Shu spoke about the airport.

"Shu, just enjoy your pretzel." Seiji interrupted, having already decided that the warrior of rock was the worst person to travel with by any means.

Shu grunted, but took the man's advice about the breaded snack. Ryo was passed out, with his head resting on Seiji's shoulder. The blonde would check to see if his friend was drooling, and luckily, he wasn't. Apparently, the one that Seiji was hoping would be sleeping was loudly munching on soft bread.

"Shu, could you chew any louder?"

"I could, but Ryo looks like he had a rough flight."

Seiji rolled his eyes, "We all did. Eleven hours on a plane is rough."

Shu finished the pretzel, "I wonder how Touma is doing on his flight?"

"Probably sleeping like a baby. I feel bad for the attendant that has to wake him."

"Hmm," Shu said, standing up, "I think I'm going to get another one of the kassebretzel-things."

"Have fun." Seiji sighed, looking at the TV.

Two and a half hours later, the trio was finally at Heathrow. They were scanning the crowd for any familiar faces. Finding that it was hard to locate Shin or Touma, they headed to a shop for dinner.

"You three are blind or you've forgotten what we look like." They heard a voice from behind. The three turned to see a long haired blonde in shorts and flip flops and a red haired bearded man in a nice brown suit.

Shu made a fist, "Well maybe if you didn't look like a hippy Touma, we would have seen you both."

"Didn't save seats for us." Shin commented.

"We can move." Seiji answered, getting up, "By the way Shin, you look less like Freddie now."

Shin rubbed his face, "I'm getting used to it too."

"Yeah, you look like Walker Texas Ranger." Touma then wondered why he was getting strange looks from his friends, "What? It's a TV show."

"Speaking of looking funny, you and Seiji could be brothers." Ryo laughed, "What's with the new hair color."

"California surfers."

Shu and Shin looked surprised.

"You are going into water, freely?" Shu spoke.

Touma laughed, "You're jealous that I have all the free time in the world between classes to do something outside."

"Well, it's not as hot at California." Shin spoke softly, "You will freeze in shorts and a tee shirt."

"I have other clothes. I'll just change later."

After a few years of not all being with each other, the five enjoyed their later meal together. Everyone had something new to tell each other.

Despite his new looks, Touma was easily passing his classes. He had taken up a few hobbies that no one had ever thought he'd do, like surfing or guitar, but he also kept some of his old ones too. He was able to go to baseball games every week with his new friends. Seiji knew that he was doing something else outside of school and surfing with them, but didn't bring it up in front of the others. He was more interested about the girl Tenku was taking about. Her name was Carla, and she lived with her mother and four year old son Hector. Knowing his friend, he playing with a kid was completely unlike him. But Touma went on about the boy.

Ryo had worked his way into the new professional football league. He wasn't starting yet, but he talked about how great it was going to be playing the sport. When asked about playing in front of a lot of people, Ryo just shrugged it off. He said that he was getting used to ignoring crowds.

Seiji and Shu didn't really have much to say. They were still doing the same work as before. Seiji's Grandfather had lessened his thoughts about the others. The warrior of Korin then had more time to focus on his teachings and the wedding. He was patiently waiting for Nasuti to return from New York to do the wedding.

Shu was still himself. He was working more in the restaurant since everyone else was gone and busy. He said that his mother was bringing girls over to introduce them to him. Shu kept saying that he wasn't interested yet.

When they all turned to Shin, he just frowned. He didn't really have anything new, besides fighting spirits hell-bent on destroying things.

"Oh, Yayoi gave me this." Seiji said, handing him a letter, "Sorry."

Shin looked at the envelope, and tucked it away for later. He had a feeling that taking off without saying anything was going to catch up on him soon.

* * *

><p>Heading back to the hotel, Touma and Seiji took one room while the remaining three took Shin's. After everyone settled in for the night, Shin took the letter out in the bathroom.<p>

_Shin-kun,_

_I am not sure what to say other than I am disappointed that you didn't call before leaving the country. When I heard you had called, for Seiji only, I felt like you had forgotten about me. I was so worried about you after the accident in the bay._

Shin noticed that she didn't sign it. He rested his head in his hands, to let the heartbreak come out. There was going to be so much to fix when he got back to Japan.

* * *

><p><strong>Just so you know, Frankfurt International Airport is boring to walk through, and the real word for what Shu ate is 'Käse Bretzel' or a pretzel with cheese on it. They're alright if the cheese is warm.<strong>


	10. Part 1 Ch 10

**Thanks for the reviews.**

* * *

><p>Beans were not something Shu was expecting for breakfast. The five troopers were in the hotel restaurant trying to enjoy their breakfast. Shu had instantly said something about the beans which made Shin laugh.<p>

"Shu, just eat them with the muffin and eggs."

Shu continued to look at them with disgust, "Beans are not breakfast food. Shin, give me your muffin."

"No way, I've already suffered through the beans to get to the muffin."

Shu turned to Ryo, "Hey, I'll give you these wonderful beans for your muffin?"

"Eh, no thanks Shu."

Touma sat back in his chair, "Hmm, beans…"

"Touma beat you Shu." Seiji quietly commented drinking the tea.

Shu growled, and in a few bites finished his plate.

"So since we're waiting on some spirit to contact us, why don't we act like tourists?" Ryo said.

"Science Museum." Touma said quickly, "My science professor said I should go there."

"We always go to the science museums." Shu complained, "Can't go somewhere else?"

Ryo, Touma and Shu agreed on going to Stonehenge for the day, while Seiji and Shin stayed to keep Lir's plan going.

"Theater tonight?" Seiji asked, look at a pamphlet.

"Yeah. We can go see one." Shin nodded.

"What did Yayoi write?"

Shin looked down, "Something I don't feel like repeating."

"I had thought it was something like that." He said, "She was upset when you didn't come back that night. Yayoi likes lilies and sushi."

Shin looked at his friend, "Are you asking me to apologize to her?"

"Yes, like you have not apologized to someone before; practically beg her to forgive you would work." Seiji spoke softly, "Besides work, you make her smile. And she leaves me alone."

"She hasn't found someone else yet?"

"No, not that I'm aware of. She's been ignoring people for a while." Seiji looked at the small map as they arrived at their destination, "Buckingham Palace. Looks like a queen lives there."

"Yup."

As Shin was looking around the area, Seiji noticed men with tattoos on their faces watching them. He picked out five from the crowd of people, all wearing black hoodies to cover their faces. The people around them would also move away, fearing for their belongings.

"Shin, we have trouble." He said when the warrior of water was closer.

"Where?"

"All around, I counted five."

Shin started to notice them as well. They were moving in quickly.

"We have to leave." Shin said, "There are a lot of people here."

"I agree."

They both started down a road. There was a park nearby that would give them plenty of room if a fight broke out. The men with the tattoos broke out in a run after them. Following suit, the two warriors started to run towards the park. Jumping over the fence, they continued to gain space. That was, until they ran into more of them. People had started to clear the park.

"Great, now we're surrounded." Shin said.

"Yes we are." Seiji said.

"Give up Lir." One said in English, "You and your friend are completely surrounded."

"And if we say no?" Shin asked, also in English.

Smiling, the men pulled out knives, "We'll find out how immortal you really are."

"Thirteen to two Shin. We don't have really good odds." Seiji spoke softly.

"No kidding." Shin said.

The leader charged forward with his knife. Shin reacted by kick the man's hand up. The knife was tossed in the air. The man then threw his other hand out towards Shin's face. He found himself on the ground, with the knife falling in between his neck and right shoulder. Letting out his breath, Shin got back up.

"Shin, Suiko." Seiji said, noticing that it fell out of his pocket.

"He's not Lir." One of the men said, also seeing the orb, "He's the armored freak."

Shin grabbed the orb and quickly put on the under armor. So much for playing decoy he thought.

"Well then. We'll show our secrets." The leader laughed.

Seiji noticed the men's' eyes change into those of reptiles.

"Oh no. This isn't going to be good." He spoke. Apparently Shin noticed too.

"Kill them both." The leader said.

Looking at Seiji, they mentally agreed to put the armors on.

* * *

><p>"Well that was a waste of time." Shu said, walking back onto the bus.<p>

"Yeah, I was hoping to walk around the stones, and get a close picture of them." Touma said, playing with his camera.

The trio soon found the ground shaking and two giant snakes appeared.

"That's not part of the attraction." Ryo said.

"No." Touma agreed, "Shin's plan with Lir must have gone wrong."

"Yes, a fight." Shu said, calling his under armor, "This will be the best part of this country."

One of the serpents turned to the attraction and spat something out. It caused the rocks to melt.

"Great acid." Ryo commented, "At least no one will be able to complain about seeing the rocks up close."

Touma looked like he was about to cry after seeing the rocks melt, "No… historical place…"

The trio called their armors out. Using his bow, Touma started to aim for the eyes of the two serpents as Ryo and Shu took to trying to beat them to the ground. After blinding one, Touma ran towards the bus to rush the people out of the area. Shu then put the thrashing serpent in the ground.

"Ryo, we have to get back to Shin and Seiji." Touma called out.

"Help me fry this thing then." Ryo said, avoided being bit by the serpent.

Taking his weapon, Shu stabbing the remaining serpent in the tail, only to jump out of the way as Ryo and Touma blasted it with the armors' power.

"Okay, how are we getting back now?" Ryo asked.

He and Shu looked at Touma.

"What, it's like you guys are wanting me to use my brain or something."

"More like fly us back."

"Dude, I'm not an airplane."

"But your armor flies." Ryo argued.

"Fine," Touma said, "Get on board Tenku airlines. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

* * *

><p>After seeing the helicopters in the sky, it didn't take the trio long to find the other two. Finding a place to land, Touma dropped the other two on top of a few remaining serpents.<p>

"Looks like you two needed back up." Touma said.

Seiji sighed, his left hand hanging limp, "Yeah, Shin's right shoulder was pulled out of socket. He's not doing so well. I was hit in the hand pretty good. They have acid breath."

"We know."

Shu was now by the warrior of water, getting him out of trouble. Shin had his weapon in his left hand, trying to defend from being bit. The ground was muddy from using his attacks, causing him and Shu to slip a bit.

Soon the remaining five serpents retreated.

"Dammit," Shin said, holding his shoulder that hadn't completely healed before being ripped out of socket, "It's like they knew where I was hurt before."

"You held your weapon differently than before." Seiji said, "I think they just saw that and went for it."

"Poor cyborg Shin." Shu said.

"Shu, he would be a cyborg if he had computer chips in his body." Touma stated.

"But cyborg sounds better than nuts and bolts holding a shoulder bone together."

"You two are not helping." Shin growled.

"Hey Shin, there's a red bus coming this way," Seiji said nonchalantly.

"Where?" then a pop was heard and he cried out.

"Works every time." Seiji said, after pulling on Shin's arm.

It didn't take long for the police to show up and the troopers to run away. Last thing they wanted was to be shot at again. At their hotel, Lir and his three sons were waiting for them.

"Ah Shin," the spirit of water said, "Just in time. I see you have friends."

"Yes, they're my fellow warriors." Shin answered, still feeling the pain.

"I also see you ran into Donn's pawns."

"We did. They were not very nice." Ryo answered.

"Well then, we have a plan to hurry and decide on how to fix our problems." Lir said.

He went on about an island off the coast of Ireland that was now under water. The entrance was to Donn's world. He explained that the serpents would not be there, but the dead could become jealous of the living coming into the Otherworld.

"Do not follow them; not even dead relatives. They will only have you killed if you do." Lir warned, "My sons, Aed, Conn, and Fiachra will help us seal Donn away so he cannot harm your world."

"Can't we just kill him?" Shu asked.

"What kill the Lord of Death himself?" Lir laughed, "Nay, we are to seal him within his world so that he may not leave but can continue to do his evil work of letting the dead enter. Now, I understand that you all have a debt to pay for staying here in this hotel. Go pay it off and meet us by the river Thames. Do not worry about your belongings. I will make sure they get to your homes safely."

"And our wounds?" Seiji spoke up.

"Ah, all will be taken cared of at the river Thames."

He and his sons left the room in a flash.

"You know what I think is odd?" Touma started.

"What do you think is odd?" Seiji asked.

"Thames. English grammar rules state to pronounce 'th' as 'thh' but Thames ignores that rule all together."

"Touma, that's it. You need to stop with your Mary Jane dates." Seiji responded irately, "You're constantly questioning the things that don't need to be questioned at this time."

Touma got red, "I had a date with Mary Jane once. After eating all of the food in the house and passing out without doing homework, I decided not to try it again. I'm just over thinking again."

"No you do this every night since going to California. Do you know what it's like waking up at 3 a.m. to listen to your random thoughts?"

"Who's Mary Jane?" Ryo whispered to Shu.

"Don't know."

* * *

><p>The five eventually found themselves at the river. Using the water, Lir healed any wounds the troopers received from the serpents. They were instructed, much to Shu's disapproval, to dive into the water. Swimming downwards, the troopers soon surfaced.<p>

"Diving down into the water, only to come back up doesn't make sense." Ryo said, after getting his breath.

Shin laughed, "That's because Lir somehow transported us off the coast of Ireland."

"How do you know?" Ryo asked.

Shin pointed to the coastline. There was a town with a flag flying.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of." Ryo yelled.

Lir and his sons were seen walking on the water. The spirit of the water spoke, and divided the water, revealing a mound with a door.

"Remember," Lir was yelling over the sound of the water crashing upon itself, "Do not follow the dead; even if they were family."

As they entered, their under armors came on.

The walls of the place were not dark and gloomy as the troopers had thought. It was well lighted with torches. Statues aligned both of the walls. Each one was different in clothing styles from different eras.

"Who are they?" Seiji asked the spirit leading them.

"Heroes and villains throughout man's history. There may be a few you all can recognize from Japan." He answered.

Ryo stopped at one. It was the old armor of Rekka from a previous owner.

"Our former armor bearers are here." He soon said.

"Were they not heroes or villains at one time?" Lir asked.

"It's just odd."

"That's ok. I suppose we'll end up here too," Shu said, "Being a statue on a wall."

The hallway seemed to never end. It kept snaking around further into the earth. Touma started a game of naming what era each statue's clothing came from, but soon stopped as there were too many to keep going. Shin stopped at one statue.

"Suzunagi." He whispered, "This place is creeping me out."

_Shin, I fought to protect your future._

He took a step back. Rubbing his forehead, he left to catch up with the others.

_Shin, son, why are you not at home with your mother. As the Mori heir, you are supposed to watch the family._

Shin stopped again, and turned. No one was there.

"Man, I'm hearing things. I think I even heard from a dead cat I once had." Shu started.

"Shu, we're all hearing things." Seiji said.

Lir soon spoke, "Come now, we are almost to the end of the hallway."

The long hallway opened up to a large room. There was a platform in the middle of the room with a figure in robes.

"So Lir, you tried to trick me so you could get your sons, and then you bring the ones in the magical armor to hide me away." The figure said.

"You were pushing your boundaries of what you could do with the living. Be glad it is just me you are dealing with." Lir answered.

"Ha. You make me laugh." The lights went out.

Crashing sounds could be heard. Seiji lit the room up, and the nine were surrounded by those statues from the hall.

"We're dead." Shu commented.


	11. Part 1 Ch 11

After the statues appeared, other things had risen to fight. Much like the clothes from the statues, skeletons with old military uniforms started to fight. Donn by this time had left. So had Lir and the twins, Conn and Fiacha.

"There's so many." Shin called out.

"Hold on, troopers." Aed yelled, "My father and brothers are going to try and seal Donn away. As soon as that happens, we will be able to stop fighting. We cannot let any of these beings disturb them."

Taking advantage of the room's height, Touma was able to shoot the beings trying to exit the room before they got to the door. The skeletons were starting to pile up against the door.

A white light flashed into the room. Fionnuala appeared, and used the white light to cause the skeletons to fall apart and the statues to stop. Naturally, Shin got defensive when she appeared and came to him.

"Sister, what are you doing here?" Aed asked.

"I have someone to apologize to. It would not be much of one if he is busy fighting." She said before turning to Shin, "Suiko, all the Samurai Troopers here, I must apologize for my actions. Had I known what Donn was planning, you would not have had to leave home. All I can do now is take you all out before my father seals the place."

"What's going to happen to you?" Seiji asked.

"For my punishment, I am leading the dead here to this room before going to Donn."

The room then started to fill up with water. As if on cue, the troopers swam down like before. The breath of air when they surfaced was refreshing from being underground.

"Why is it always water that gets us out of places?" Shu asked.

"Because if it was sand or rock, we'd all be stuck." Touma answered, laughing at the warrior of stone.

"Or in Touma's positioned, stoned." Seiji teased.

"Hey, I told you I did that once." He fought back, "So now that we're done here. Can we make like a book and skip to the ending?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryo asked.

"In every story, the good guys never take a nine hour flight back home. They just end up there."

"Unfortunately Touma, we're not book characters, and we do have to take long flights home." Seiji said.

"Anyone think Lir is going to come back and send us home?" Shu asked, "Because I don't want to swim."

Bringing his hand to his face, Seiji sighed, "So much complaining."

"Let's just get out of the water." Ryo said.

The other four agreed. Shin brought his trident around to the back to make a jet steam to push everyone towards the Irish coast. They were met by Aed on the coast.

"So are we flying home?" Shu asked.

The younger man laughed, "No, you are home."

"Haha, yes!" Shu jumped in the air, "No long flights for us."

"Damn, that means I still have to get back to California." Touma mumbled, "No book ending for me."

"That's what you get for your dumb analogy." Seiji laughed.

"I can make sure you get home in a timely manner." Aed said, "Thank you all again for helping. It might not have been how you expected it, but keeping those things from interrupting my father helped greatly."

"It was an honor." Seiji said.

"Besides, I now know not to eat English food again." Shu added.

"You never complained about my mother's."

"Not to her face." Shu responded quietly. Shin refrained himself from punching his friend.

"Guys." Ryo interrupted.

"Well, I guess it is good bye for a while." Touma said.

After good-byes, and reminders of Seiji's wedding in a month, they broke off into three directions.

* * *

><p>Not wanting to face the fire of the Maritime Agency yet, Shin stayed at the Date dojo in Sendai. He regretted it when Yayoi laid into Seiji and himself. She yelled at her brother for bringing Shin over, and Shin got slapped in the face.<p>

"She took that well." Seiji said after his older sister left for her room.

"Not so much for my face. She knows how to hit." Shin said, rubbing his face, "And the beard didn't help."

"Why don't you call your mother? She's probably worried sick."

"Alright." Shin said, heading to the office.

His call with his sick mother was a long one, both of interest and disappointment. She told him that he could have called before taking off, but at the same time asked about London. When asked about what the Agency was going to say, Shin was quiet. He didn't know what was going to happen. He could come clean about what happened with the armors or say that he deserted for a few months. Either way, it wasn't going to be good.

When he and Seiji woke up in the morning, they were feeling the pains from fighting. They decided to eat breakfast outside in the sun with Satsuki. She was laughing at their every groans and moans from the day before.

"You two look like you both went through a blender."

Seiji glared at her, "Don't you have school today?"

"It's Saturday, and you should call Nasuti. Her birthday was yesterday." Satsuki smiled.

"Damn, it was." He looked at his watch, "I might still catch her in time."

Shin and Satsuki held her laugh.

"It's seven in the afternoon there." His sister said.

"Aren't you smart today?" he said, giving her a quick noogie.

"Hey!"

Shin and the younger sister sat in silence.

"Lilies and sushi." She said random.

"Huh?" Shin picked his head back up, "Oh, yeah, Seiji already told me."

"If you still like her, you better hurry and prove it. She has a date tonight with some doctor from Tokyo tonight."

Shin sighed, "I'm not going to interrupt her night, if that's what you're saying."

"Then you better go to the hospital and talk to her."

"Has she talked about me then?"

"No, not lately. She's been trying to play it off like it's nothing."

"Last night it wasn't nothing." Shin sighed.

"No, Grandfather's been hard on her for dating a sailor, when she could date someone who will take care of her."

"Is that what he said?"

"Yep." The eighteen year old sighed, "He's been so strict on Yayoi and Seiji about who to marry. This old fashioned family thing seems so silly to me."

Shin didn't have any words for her. His family wasn't as strict, but kept certain traditions alive. He was deep in thought until Satsuke brought him back.

"Shin?"

"Huh," he blushed, "Sorry. I was deep in thought."

"I asked if your family was as strict."

"No. My mother just wants me to marry someone and have grandkids to give her. As she gets older, she asks more. Heart problems and other stuff."

"Sad." Satsuki stood, "I better give you a haircut today."

"You don't have to."

"Hey, I have the cheapest prices in Sendai. Free."

Shin laughed, "Then I guess I have no choice."

The choice he picked wasn't the best. Satsuki had shaven his entire head bald, including the beard. Seiji had peeked into the washroom, wondering about the giggling, and even laughed himself as Shin was rubbing his bald head.

"Fell for one of Satsuki's tricks I see." He laughed, "Touma had it happen to him once."

Shin gave the blonde warrior a look.

"You two look like a yin and yang; Fluff ball and baldy." Satsuki teased.

Shin and Seiji both rolled their eyes.

"All right," Shin said, fixing his shirt, "I have to report to work and tell them I'm not a deserter."

"Good luck." Seiji gave him a sad smile.

* * *

><p>Deciding to take his time to think, Shin walked. It was probably the longest hour walk he'd ever done. The spring heat was making him more nervous. It became worse when he saw the gate. Then he knew he was at his worse when the guards had him on his stomach, handcuffed, and a knee in the small of his back. He was in pain from being grabbed and yanked to the ground to complain about the handcuffs.<p>

Shin felt like a little boy as he was yelled at by his commander. All his excuses went away.

"What do you have to say about yourself?"

Shin couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He was about to lose rank and a job, possibly jail time.

"I don't have anything sir." He spoke softly.

"Well," the shorter man said, "We're going to have to put you in a cell for the night. I'll figure out what to do with you tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Shin said.

The holding cells were full of smugglers and arsonists. Shin felt uncomfortable being near them, knowing that if they found out who he was, he'd probably die. It slowly became a long sleepless night. The morning wasn't any better. He was taken out of the cell, only to be told to put his uniform on and see the commander.

"Sit Mori." The man said, "I called around for advice on what to do to you. I can take all rank and pay, and send you to prison. I can take all rank and find a shitty assignment further north. Or, after talking to an American commander, I can leave you with all rank and send you to Somalia for a U.N. Peacekeeping mission. You will be working with the Pakistani army."

He paused to let the choices sink in. Shin knew that he didn't want to go to jail. He would be disowned by his family. The other two choices were hard. He didn't know much about what was going on in Somalia, and cold weather was already horrible in Sendai during the winter.

"So I came to a conclusion." The short man spoke, "You're proficient in English and emergency aid enough to go help in Somalia. So then, you are hereby ordered to report to North Army Training Brigade here in Sendai for weapons training. You have two hours to report. Dismissed."

Shin walked out of the office with his new orders disappointed that his choice didn't matter. And weapons training? What was he getting into?

He met Ichiro at his locker. The other diver was happy to see him.

"Where are you going?" he asked as Shin was cleaning what was left of his locker.

"Weapons training and then Somalia."

"Ooh," Ichiro took a step back, "It was nice knowing you then."

"Why?" Shin frowned.

"Man, the news reported how nasty the fighting is over there. You might as well let your mother know that you won't be coming home."

"Thanks for being positive for me."

"No problem. Can I have your jacket? I ripped mine in training."

Shin glared at the other man, and then handed it over, "Enjoy."

"Thanks. Be careful over there."

"I'll try." Was it really as bad as Ichiro was making it out to be?

Shin met with the driver assigned to get him the to Self-Defense base. It didn't take long to get there. He grabbing his things and was met by an officer. He was escorted like a prisoner to receive new uniforms, and a borrowed M-16. He was rushed around so much, that he felt like he was back in basic training for the Maritime Agency again. Boarding another truck, he was taken out with a few other members of the Self-Defense army.

* * *

><p>That night, Shin was able to call home. Sayoko was home with Taro as Ryuusuke was still at work. His mother was in bed, still recovering from illness. Although he wanted to catch up with them, he had to tell them the bad news. If she was in front of Shin, he would have seen Sayoko roll her eyes. She already had three people to take care of. She didn't want to worry about her brother as well.<p>

"How much longer do you have until you can get out?" she asked.

"Next June." Shin answered.

"Are you going to be able to come home before leaving? Because one day wasn't enough."

"I'm not sure yet. All I know is I'm going to be there for nine months." Shin sighed.

"Just," Sayoko paused, "Just be careful. I don't think mom could handle another scare or death in the family. And please don't disappear again."

"I won't." he too, paused, "I'll make sure to call home when I can."

"When's Seiji's wedding?"

"Later this month. I'll probably miss it." Shin sighed.

"Sorry to hear that."

Hearing his name called, Shin hurried up, "Yeah. I have to go. I'll try to call before leaving the country."

"Ok little brother. Be safe."

Shin hung up the phone to head to bed. Tomorrow, he was able to go back into town.


	12. Part 1 Ch 12

**Sorry about the delay. I had a few problems writing this one.**

* * *

><p>After the briefing in the morning, Shin had five hours to be in town. And he knew what he had to do in five hours. First, he called Seiji to inform him of what was going on. Frustrated, Seiji kept his cool.<p>

"Can they really send you to Somalia?"

"They are, whether they can or not."

"So you'll miss the wedding?"

"Most likely. I have some time today to at least get you and Nasuti a present."

"Between you and Touma, I will break a vein in my head from all this change of plans."

"Sorry."

Seiji sighed, "It's not completely your fault."

After his call with Seiji, Shin had an angry woman to apologize to. Dragging his escort with him, he headed to the hospital he knew well. He knew between his bald head and the tan uniform he was wearing that Yayoi may not recognize him at first. One of the nurses did recognize him.

"Dr. Date is in the break room, if you're interested Mr. Mori." She said.

Moving the flowers to his other hand, Shin thanked her. It didn't take long before he found the room.

"Do you have to follow me in?" Shin asked his escort.

"Not unless there's more than one exit out." The escort said. The man had a bored look on his face.

Opening the door, Shin knocked on the door frame to let her know someone was coming in. The blonde doctor gave him an odd look before she realized who it was.

"And of course he brings flowers." Yayoi said, as Shin walked in.

"Can we talk?"

"Are you going to disappear again, because the man I'm currently with now won't head further away than Tokyo." she was red in the face.

"Not without telling you." Shin was nervous, "I'm sorry about not calling you."

"You didn't even ask for me when you did call a couple nights ago."

Rubbing his head, Shin sighed, "And that was my fault. I should have…"

"But you didn't." she stared him down, "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

"Somalia. It's my punishment for not telling the Agency where I went."

Yayoi's face softened, "Somalia? That's harsh."

"It was that or jail." Shin defended himself.

Taking a breath, Yayoi settled down, "You're not doing your regular job either, are you?"

"No."

Shin was surprised then Yayoi hugged him, "You had me worried and now you have to go again. That's why I can't stay with you. Ikuko has a safe job and Grandfather loves his clan's history. I don't have to worry about him getting shot or drowning at sea."

Gently grabbing her face with both hands, Shin planted a soft kiss on her lips. His calm eyes looked the woman. He was thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Then don't worry about me." He looked down at the floor, "If the doctor is the better man for you and provides a better heritage then mine, then I'll let it be. Here; I was told you like lilies."

Opening the door, Shin walked out, and signaled to the escort he was done.

"Girl problems, eh?" the escort said.

"Yeah."

He thought he was crazy thinking that their teasing work fling would actually work. Of course a man with a degree would come to take her away after he finally decided to act on her teasing. But then again, it was all a joke until he finally asked her out.

He was about to leave the hospital until he heard his name called.

"Shin!" he heard again, before turning.

Yayoi ran around people to catch up to them.

"You're not going to tell me why I should leave Ikuko?" she asked, sounding disappointed.

"No. If you don't know who you want for yourself instead of what your Grandfather wants for you, then I'm wasting my time and your time." Shin tried to not sound angry.

"And mine." The escort added.

"I apologized. I beat myself mentally two nights ago after reading your letter. I let you have your date with the man last night instead of interrupting it. I'm not going to beg like your brother suggested. I can't take you out for lunch at a sushi place, because I have an escort who is making sure I don't run away to some other country. Either you still have an interest in me or you don't." without raising his voice once, he turned and walked out.

Yayoi stood in the lobby of the hospital, ignoring the stares and whispering that was going on. The same nurse that helped Shin earlier shook her head.

"You just let Mr. Mori go. What woman lets a sweetheart like that walk away? Kids and their love fights."

Yayoi glared at the nurse and walked away. For once in her twenty-four years, she was found speechless by a man.

Returning to the army base early, Shin headed to his bunk. After keeping a tranquil outside, he had to let the inside out. After having the drive back to settle himself down, he really felt dumb for letting her go. The countless flirting to take his mind off of the people he had brought in from the sea or flooded towns gave him a break from stress.

He called his mother about sending Seiji and Nasuti some matching pottery for their wedding gift. She told him that she knew just what would be perfect for them and that she'd pass her thoughts along to Sayoko to get started on it.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Shin found himself with a doctor. His right shoulder was being examined for movement ability. He was still having problems raising his right arm above his shoulder, and having it taken out of socket set it back. The doctor told him he wasn't going until he could lift his arm over his head.<p>

The next few days, he went to physical therapy for his arm. He was lectured for not going since his injury. He soon found that the therapist didn't like deserters as his arm and shoulder were twisted and pulled in every direction possible. There were also weights he had to do. By the end of each day, his shoulder was beat. The upside was that he could go to Seiji's wedding.

After coming back from therapy one day, many of the soldiers were crowded by a television. When they saw Shin enter, they all became quiet.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Twenty-four Pakistani soldiers were killing in Somalia yesterday." One spoke.

"The rebels ambushed them." Another said.

Shin frowned, "Oh."

"You probably shouldn't watch it Shin." Someone in the back said, "You might want to run away again."

"Yeah, but this time you should just stay away." Another spoke.

"Dead man walking."

Shin sighed, and walked out. It wasn't so much the thought of dying scaring him; he'd already done that once. It was dying in pain again and what everyone else's reaction would be. Hoping to take his mind off of it, he grabbed a small dinner.

* * *

><p>It was a week before the wedding when all five of the troopers, Nasuti and Jun had set aside time for lunch away from family. Touma had flown in the day before, leaving Carla and Hector back in California. Ryo and Shu drove to Sendai for the week. Shin convinced the training base that he wasn't taking the next plane to Korea. The fourteen year old Kendo champion gladly skipped school to spend the rare time with his 'older brothers.'<p>

Shin sat quietly picking at his food as everyone talked. They were all avoiding the conversation about the warrior of water leaving.

"So the thief walked in thinking he was all clear to steal the money, then suddenly my mom jumped out of nowhere to scare the guy." Shu spoke of the almost recent robbery of the restaurant, "The man ran so fast, I thought he was going to take off."

"Did you see the man's face?" Jun asked.

"Nah, but he didn't get anything from our safe." Shu answered.

Seeing how Shin and Seiji were being quiet, Touma pulled out an old photo album. He had an evil grin on his face.

"Hey Shin, what were you looking at in this picture?" he nonchalantly asked.

"What picture is it?"

"The one of us at the beach. You and Seiji were both hold up Nasuti."

Shin thought about it for a moment before going red, "Where'd you get it?"

Naturally, Seiji saw the water warrior's blush, and grabbed the book.

"You're staring at Nasuti in her swim suit!" Seiji yelled.

"Oops." Shin gave him an embarrassed grin.

"When was this?" Nasuti asked.

"Summer after we beat Arago." Touma answered.

Nasuti let out a laugh, "Boys will be boys, Seiji."

"I want to know how he got the picture." Shu thought out loud.

Seiji snorted as he sat down in his chair, "Staring. Shin, just as I think I have figured you out as a nice polite guy who was going to work with animals, we find out you joined the Armed Forces and that you are actually a pervert."

"No, I think it was more of a healthy fourteen year old boy holding a pretty girl up out of the water." Shin laughed.

"I wondered why you stayed in the water a bit longer after that quick game. Now I think I know why." Jun added, making Shin blush even more.

"At least you didn't have to hold up Ryo." Touma teased.

"Hey." Ryo put his finger into Touma's chest, "Don't get me started on some of the things we've had to do for you Mr. I'm-hyper-after-sugar."

The next few hours then became a trip down memory lane. All the seriousness of life was forgotten.


	13. Part 1 Ch 13

**Sorry for taking so long. Work has been busy. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>On the day of the wedding, the four troopers and Jun were trying to ease Seiji's nervousness. The warrior of light was trying everything to calm himself down, but nothing was working. Touma tried horrible jokes. Ryo tried to get him to think about something else. Shu and Shin were constantly back and forth from the kitchen getting tea or drinking it themselves. Although he really wanted the tea, Seiji was ignoring it. Jun kept telling him that he would not want a full bladder during the ceremony. Not to his Grandfather's liking, he and Nasuti decided on a western marriage ceremony. It was to make up for Nasuti's parents flying in from France.<p>

"How does it look?" Seiji asked his friends.

"You look like you're getting some tonight." Touma said.

Shaking his head, Shin walked forward, "Your tie's wrong."

"Ugh, that was the fifth time trying to fix it." Seiji growled.

"I'll do it." Shin said.

"I'll go check on Nasuti." Ryo said, trying to contain his laughter. Jun also tagged along.

"You should have just skipped the ceremony and done the reception. You two are technically married already." Shu said with a full stomach.

"And you just want the food." Seiji shot back, "Besides, my family would have kicked me out if I didn't. Does it look better?"

Shin laughed, "You look fine. Nasuti was going to keep you anyways."

"I know." Seiji sighed, looking at a laughing Touma, "Just you wait. You and Carla are next."

"Maybe in a few years." Touma smiled, "We both have degrees to finish. I bet Shu's next."

"I don't even have a girl yet."

"You and me both, brother." Shin joked.

"Pound it." Shu said, offering his fist, which Shin gladly hit.

"You ready Seiji?" the warrior's father asked, coming in the room.

"He's ready." Touma grinned.

Following his father, Seiji left a bird behind him, which made Touma laugh harder.

Shin and Shu met Jun, who was already seated.

"Is he still nervous?" the younger boy asked.

"Shaking like an earthquake." Shu responded.

"I don't think I've seen him this nervous before." Shin spoke softly.

Four people sat next to them. As Shin made a glance to see who they were, he got a wave and smile from Kayura. The other three Masho were also there, dressed in the proper wear.

"Whoa, it's weird seeing all of you not in armor." Shu said.

"If you would like a reminder, we can gladly put them on afterwards." Rajura smiled.

"We're here because we were invited." Naaza said.

"Awkward." Shu whispered to Shin.

"Besides, Suiko still owes me for jumping into the cold waters of the Antarctic. I would prefer it before you went off to fight someone else's war." Anubis grinned.

"You know?" Shin asked.

"Of course we do. Kayura keeps tabs on all of you." Naaza smirked.

Shu and Shin gave each other a look.

"It is not like that, you idiots." Kayura frowned, "Although there is one thing I must ask you Shin."

"What is it?"

"What are you planning to do with Suiko?" the woman asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Are you planning on keeping the armor here or taking it with you?"

Shin felt all the eyes from the row on him, "I haven't thought about it."

"You have to make a decision soon." Kayura spoke softly, "If you are killing there in Africa, it would not do us good if Suiko falls into the wrong hands. Something is stirring in the Demon Realm. We do not know anything yet, but Naaza has brought it to my attention. We need to know that Suiko can be safe."

Shin held his head in his hands, "I don't have anyone in my family that can take the armor."

"I can take it." The younger boy said, "I mean, I can hold on to it until you come back."

"That's a big responsibility." Shu said, unsure of Jun's thoughts.

"I'm as old as you all were when Arago came, and I know the basics with a bo staff. You could teach me Shu."

"It's not your age or skill." Shin spoke, "It's whether or not Suiko, itself will accept you."

Sitting up, Shin put a hand on the boy's shoulder, "We'll talk about it later. This isn't the time to talk about this."

"Yeah, we can talk about fighting monsters later." Shu yawned, "I just want to get to the food."

Shin and Jun laughed.

* * *

><p>The room became silent as the ceremony began. All of the family members watched as Seiji walked in first. After escorting the bride's maids, Touma and Ryo stood next to the blonde. Touma spoke something in to Seiji's ear, causing him to let out a nervous laugh.<p>

When the doors in the back reopened, everyone stood. The bride and her father started to walk toward the front. Glancing at the groom, Shin saw Seiji's smile.

"Now I'm glad we didn't just go to the reception," Shu leaned back towards the red head, "I get one last chance to think Nasuti's pretty without Seiji hitting me."

Shin put a hand on Shu's shoulder, "Me too, Shu."

"Me three." They heard Jun which made them hold their laughter.

It was not long before everyone was congratulating the couple outside. The trio sitting in the crowd had hollered as the couple made their 'first' kiss being married.

"I expected you and Shin to make a lot of noises, but not Jun." Nasuti told Shu.

"He's got to learn how to be loud and rowdy somehow." Shu came back.

"Well, let's get a picture of all of us before you all rush off to the reception." Seiji said.

Quickly, the troopers, Masho and Jun gathered around the newly married couple. There was a mixture of seriousness and goofy smiles.

Minutes later, Shu and Shin both found themselves deep into their second drink. The reception was in a private garden. There was a pond in the center, glowing with candles.

"There's Yayoi and her boyfriend." Shu spat out with disgust. The couple was eating at the newlyweds table.

"Yeah." Shin mumbled.

"You should ask her to dance."

"I'm not trying to cause a scene, Shu."

"I never said that you were. Just go ask her for a simple dance."

Shin took another sip of his beer like he was ignoring his friend.

"Fine, I'll go ask her." Shu said, slamming his bottle down.

Shin growled as Shu left. The warrior of rock was doing that on purpose. Ryo must have taken noticed, because he and Jun walked over.

"Is he asking Yayoi to dance with him?"

"Yes." Shin growled through his teeth, "He thinks he's funny."

The trio continued to watch Shu make an ass out of himself. They could tell that the woman was rolling her eyes, as Shu tried to convince her that he was a great dance partner. The sad part of it though, Shin thought, was that she finally agreed. And it was to a slow song. The warrior of rock purposely brought her in close, making Shin jealous. Ikuko was besides the bar, grabbing drinks as he was waiting for them to finish their dance.

"Have you thought about Suiko?" Jun finally spoke.

"Not a lot." Shin said, surprised that he brought it up again so soon, "I have a few errands to run tomorrow, but we can work on some fighting techniques after."

"So you're finally giving Suiko up?" Ryo asked.

"Only until I come back."

"It's just so his armor doesn't fall into someone else's hands." Jun defended the warrior of water.

"Shin," Ryo said, "I thought you accepted that you were going to have the armor…"

"No," Shin interrupted, "Don't lecture me Ryo. I know what I decided on and I know the armors and the Agency don't match well together. I just want to enjoy this one night before I have to leave Suiko behind."

Sighing, Shin stood, "We've all had doubts about the armor. Some of us just let it linger longer."

Rekka smiled, "At least you picked someone who wouldn't abuse it."

"You know me Ryo. I wouldn't do anything wrong with Suiko." Jun added.

"I know. I trust you, Jun."

After hearing the song end, Shin finished his drink. Seeing Shu show off, made him want to prove himself more.

"Yayoi," Shin offered his hand, "Would you like to dance the next song?"

Yayoi glanced over to her boyfriend still at the bar talking, "I'd like to take a break. Sorry. Maybe later?"

Nodding his head, Shin left with a sad smile. As he was making his way towards the bar to get another drink, he felt someone grab his hand. Turning, he was surprised to see Nasuti.

"Come Shin," she said, "Let's dance. Seiji's been stolen for a bit."

Smiling, Shin accepted. He followed her, as he saw Seiji and Touma. Touma had a devilish look on his face.

"Seiji looks like he's in trouble." Shin laughed.

"Yes. I think Touma's plan tonight is to make him really drunk." Nasuti laughed back, "I hope you know how to dance to jazz."

"Nasuti my dear," Shin recomposed himself as an older jazz piece came on, "Let's just hope I can hold on to you and the beer in me."

As the song went along, Nasuti spoke again, "Have you been feeling alright?"

"Of course. I'm dancing with a pretty woman."

"No silly, just life in general."

"Oh." Shin laughed, "I'll be fine. It's just life taking me to foreign places. I'm more worried about my mother."

Nasuti gave him a look, "Alright. I'm just making sure you're fine. You've been down lately. I heard that the Agency gave you a hard time."

"Oh, but of course! Already I have achieved a post of honor and have been left to defend the fort."

Nasuti gave him another look, "Are you quoting Pepe le Pew?"

"Yes. One cannot help himself in front of a beautiful woman." Shin tried to hold his composure, but soon found himself laughing.

"L'homme idiot."

"Non, rien que pour vous chers." Shin mumbled.

"You can speak French?"

"Only a bit. At one time I thought I was going to go to France to become a chef. My mother was trying to teach me what she knew. Then I found out that I was going to be a samurai, and quit the lessons."

"Shin, you charmer," Nasuti smiled, "Yayoi's a fool to not wanting you."

"That's what I've been told."

Ending their dance, Nasuti gave him a quick hug, "Be safe ok?"

Planting a soft kiss on her hand, Shin gave her a sad smile, "I'll try. Take care of Seiji. He'll need someone with a calm mind around his grandfather and Touma partying in America."

"Don't I know."

As they parted, Shin headed back to the bar. He had another beer in his hand as he turned into someone. The other person had red wine that spilled onto his white uniform. It was Ikuko.

"Sorry, I didn't see you." The doctor said.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have turned so quickly." Shin said, angry that his uniform was stained.

The doctor took the rest of his drink and spilled it on the warrior.

"Stay away from her, by the way. After you embarrassed her, her coworkers didn't treat her the same. She might have to move to Tokyo with me." He smirked.

Holding back, Shin just stood there.

"But then again, a sailor like you wouldn't know how to speak to a woman greater than your stature. Don't you all rape and pillage?"

"I'm in the Maritime Agency, and no, we don't rape and pillage." Shin said.

"Sure. Mori is it?" the man grabbed another glass to drink from, "I heard that you disgraced your family name by running away."

"Can I head to the wash room to clean the mess you made on me?"

"No sailor, because I like seeing those less privileged in a complete mess. Makes me feel better about my job. Have you ever saved a life Mori?"

"Plenty of times. And that's with a high school degree." Shin said harsher than he would have liked it.

The doctor grabbed his shirt, "Listen boy, you're dirt. What kind of school would take you? You better head to Somalia, because that's where you belong. You and your idiot friends."

Seeing the argument, Shu shook his head, "Big mistake there. He grabbed Shin's shirt."

Ryo and Touma stood behind Shu.

"Should we help him?" Ryo asked.

"Nah Shin needs to hit the guy. I predict a left hook to the man's face." Touma said with a smile.

"Left hook then a jab from his right." Shu added.

Ryo was confused, "Are you two making a bet?"

"No, we just know." Touma said, remembering a similar punch from Shin years ago.

Sure enough, Ikuko felt his face jerk back from a left hook from Shin, only to be tugged back by the collar and hit with a right.

"Knew it." Shu smiled, before going to interfere.

The wedding party's attention went from dancing to the fight going on. Seiji sighed, as he cracked his knuckles. He was going to regret his next action. Ikuko had knocked Shin onto a table when he saw Seiji's fist.

"Get out!" the blonde said and the doctor obliged.

Seiji then turned to his fellow warrior, grabbed him by the collar and hit him as well.

"You too, unless you want to be arrested again."

Shin nodded rubbing his face and left.

"Harsh." Touma said.

"Not as harsh as the police would have been." Seiji said, "My father wanted to hit them both."

* * *

><p>Taking the stained shirt off, Shin used it to wipe the wine and blood from his face. Happy that his mother couldn't see him in his rare state, Shin sat on a bench to recollect himself. He was sure that Ikuko made a scene like that on purpose, though he thought, it was funny to see the man run after Seiji scared him.<p>

"Shin?" he heard Yayoi call from behind him.

He tried to ignore her, as she walked up and sat next to him.

"Shin?" she said softer than before.

"I'm surprised you didn't follow the doctor with a degree." Shin rudely interrupted her.

"He took off running."

Shin snorted, "So you came to take pity on me?"

"No."

"Yayoi, I don't feel like fighting. But that's all I've been doing for a long time." He said, "I fought instead of swimming along."

She didn't know if he was talking about the armors or something else. So she let him ramble on.

"I don't know who I am anymore." He said before putting his head in his hands.

They both sat in silence before Shin stood up. He held his hand out. The armor orb was in his hand.

"Can you give this to Jun? He said that he was going to take it." He spoke softly.

"Shin, are you…" she was interrupted.

"Just take it." He said before turning away.

Yayoi stood, "Shin?"

"Screw it, I'm not going to fight it anymore." He said, turning back.

His bruised lips crashed onto hers. She was too surprised to fight back.

"Please don't move to Tokyo with him. I can get a degree and even though I don't have it, I can get us a big house too. I know pottery isn't your thing, but my sister can take care of it. I'll move here in Sendai. I'll even take the Data name and learn how to fight with a sword." Shin said, holding her tight, "I'll do anything. Just wait for me this time. Please."

"Shin." She let out.

Letting go, Shin hung his head, "I should go."

"Shin." Yayoi decided to speak her mind, "I'm not moving to Tokyo. And what you said in the hospital weeks ago, you were correct. I should be sorry. I should have listened to my heart better. Now, let's get you home."

She waited for Shin to take her hand before calling a taxi.


	14. Part 1 Ch 14

**This chapter is shorter than the last one. I hope you enjoy it.**

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><p>It was a sunny afternoon when Shin and Jun hiked up a small mountain. Shin had a bag with food for later and a few other things he thought that he would need for the quick lesson he was about to give. Neither of them spoke about the night before. It was mixed with a bit of embarrassment and politeness.<p>

"Okay, this looks like a good spot." Shin said, as they found an opening with a small creek.

"Are you going to teach me the power attacks?" Jun asked a bit too excited for his own good.

Laughing, Shin said no, "You'll learn just the basics stuff while getting used to Suiko."

"Oh, yeah," Jun said, scratching his head, "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself."

Shin only gave the boy a smile, "Ryo said that he went over the orb and stuff, so go ahead and put it on."

Holding the orb, he moved his arms like he remembered when the warrior of water did them. He got nothing.

"It didn't work last night either."

"That's odd. Let me see." Shin said.

He too tried to call the armor, which ended in nothing happening.

"Don't do this to me now, Suiko." Shin said with a bit more anger in his voice.

He tried again, only to watch the armor knock Jun over into the creek. The now armored boy sat up, looking confused.

"Ow." He mumbled.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting Suiko to do that." Shin said, trying to not laugh at the boy.

"Now I'm wet." Jun said, getting out of the creek.

Shin laughed even more, "You better get used to that feeling; you are bearing the armor of water."

"I thought the armor would be heavier." Jun sat, putting the trident down, "Why did it have to knock me over?"

"Don't know. It might have to do with passing the armor to the new bearer."

"Did it do that to you?"

Shin stopped to think about it, "No, because I was in the water already."

Going through the things he brought, Shin undid two wooden staffs and a wooden sword. He was borrowing them from the training base. Trading one of the staffs for the Suiko weapon, Shin started.

"The staff is more for distance than a sword." Shin started, "Unless you're Seiji then any distance is your friend."

Jun was busy going through a simple set of movement, swinging the staff around him. After the boy was moving faster, Shin broke with train of thought with the wooden sword. Not used to the smaller weapon, he quickly swung it towards Jun. Hitting it with the staff, Jun continued his moves, causing the sword to come back at Shin.

"What was that for?" Jun asked.

"Just checking your grip." Shin calmly said.

Jun then was shown some other moves before Shin began showing him how to spin the weapon.

"You need to spin it from in between your index and middle fingers, and then to your thumb before repeating it." Shin spoke when Jun was having problems.

Soon after, Jun was getting it quickly. Walking around him, Shin picked up a small stone.

"What's the spinning for?"

"A bit of offence and defense." Shin said, before standing in front of Jun, "And you can show off a bit to friends and family."

When Shin felt that the boy was spinning it fast enough, he threw the rock. The rock went through to hit Jun in the head.

"Hey." He said stopping.

"Sorry. I guess I threw it too hard." Shin smirked, "Lunch?"

"Yeah." Jun said, dropping the wooden staff and the helmet, "It doesn't get hot in the armor does it?"

"Not here by the water."

They both sat under a tree. Taking his jacket off, Shin rested against the tree as he went through his bag.

"We don't have much of a kitchen to use on base, so I hope sandwiches and crisps are alright." Shin said tossing them.

"That's okay. Any cooking of yours is great." Jun said, ripping the wrapping apart, "Are you scared going back to Africa?"

Shin swallowed his food, "Not as I was before. I guess I'm more worried about you and Suiko."

"We will be fine. Shu said he was going to show me a few things too, and Ryo was going to help as well."

"After lunch, we'll work with the actual weapon. It's heavier than wood, but I think you can handle it." Shin said, opening the potato crisps.

"Too bad it isn't the old weapon. That claw was cool."

"It was fun."

"What about the other claw and knife?"

"Oh, those." Shin laughed, "I never thought to use them. A great Suiko bearer never loses his weapon."

"Were you good then?"

"Good enough to forget about them."

They both laughed.

"How are your parents doing?" Shin finally asked.

"They're fine." Jun said nonchalantly, "My mom still works at home. Dad still works for the bank. Neither of them understands kendo. They show up to all the matches, but I can't talk about it like I can with Ryo or Seiji."

"When I told my mother I was joining the Maritime Agency, she was indifferent about it." Shin spoke softly, "But when I talked about it more, she decided that I wasn't making a mistake, well, until I was shot after trying to save someone. But sometimes you just have to let them know what you are doing and why you want to do it. They'll come around to be interested or they won't. You can't force it."

Standing up Shin stretched, "Which, this is a good time to compare that lesson to Suiko."

Shin started to take his boots off, and rolled his pant legs up. Grabbing one of the staffs, he tossed the trident to Jun. He grabbed the rest of his things, and headed into the water.

"Come on. Suiko's better in the water. I think there's a pond nearby."

* * *

><p>Minutes later, Shin was finding himself being tossed around from Jun in the armor. He was outmatched in speed, and strength. The only thing he had going for him was experience, knowledge of the armor, and he could swim a whole lot better than Jun. The practice armor he had taken from base was beat up pretty good as well. As he found himself in another tree, Jun came up from the pond.<p>

"Are you okay Shin?"

Untangling himself from the tree, Shin gave the boy a thumbs up.

"I think you'll be fine if something comes up." He coughed, "You just have to get used to fighting in the water. I recommend swimming every day and dragging Shu into the water with you."

"Shu hates swimming."

"Makes chasing him even more fun." Shin smiled as he got out of the tree, "Then you bribe him with surfing or food and he'll be happy again."

"One more question: how do you take the armor off?" Jun asked.

"Uh, just wish it off. That's what I've always done."

"What time is it?"

"Dinner time." Shin said looking at his watch, "I better get you back to Ryo so he can take you home."

The boy nodded. Both of them were feeling confident that Jun would be fine.


	15. Part 1 Ch 15

**Here's the next one. I hope you enjoy it. **

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><p>As he sat on the bus, Shin was feeling the pain from the day before. The bus shaking though was not helping either. He was on his way home for a few weeks before he was heading to Somalia. This time around, Shin was not expecting a homecoming party. He had a feeling that he was going to help in the shop or babysit. He didn't mind though. He was finally meeting his eight month year old nephew. Although, the more he thought about it, the more he was worried that the baby wouldn't like him, or that he's be a horrible uncle. And he hoped Taro would like the fluffy dolphin he bought for him.<p>

"We're arriving in Yamaguchi." The driver yelled throughout the bus.

Grabbing his bag, Shin got off. Ryuusuke met him at the bus stop to drive him home.

"You look less like a sailor saving people and more like a soldier, ready to kill them." His brother-in-law said.

"Let's hope I don't have to." Shin mumbled.

"Well, I hope you're good with kids, because I have to go back to work. You're stuck with Taro for the day."

"Alright."

"And just so you know, he's more like a Shizuka than a Mori. Loud and proud."

"Great." Shin laughed, "How am I supposed to teach him to swim then?"

"Good luck with that. You'll need several dive tanks."

"Are you working up in Hagi?"

"Yes and your sister has given me the job to check on the old house."

"I'll see you next week then." Shin teased.

"Ha, you're funny." Ryuusuke commented, as he pulled into the driveway, "Well, Sayoko's in there for the time being. She'll head over to the shop as you settle in."

Shin waved as he got out. Sayoko, with Taro in her arms, was already at the door when he walked up.

"Welcome home Shin." She smiled.

"I'm glad to be home."

"Come on, I bet you're hungry." She said handing the boy over, "I'll make you something quick."

The baby boy was staring at Shin with his big brown eyes, as he followed into the kitchen.

"I didn't think babies were this heavy." He said.

"He's not heavy. You were heavy." Sayoko laughed, "But you were quiet. Taro likes to think he's talking to you all the time."

"Does this mean I'm not Boy-chama anymore?" Shin smiled.

"No." his older sister flatly said.

She put a plate on the table before sitting down, "Mom and I should be back before dinner. In case he gets hungry, there are peaches he can eat."

"Diapers?"

"Washroom. All his toys are in his room, and don't leave him alone. He likes to wander off." Sayoko then laughed, "Are you going to be alright?"

"I've fought monsters, spirits, and crazy people. I think I can handle a baby."

Sayoko rolled her eyes, "I forget that you've never handled babies before."

"What about the egg I had to take care of in school? I took great care of it."

"Doesn't count Shin. Any ten year old can keep an egg from breaking." Sayoko sighed, "Call the shop if something comes up."

"I will."

Seconds after his mother left, Taro quickly showed Shin how he really was. Every time Shin tried to take a bite of his food, Taro had something to say.

"Let Uncle Shin eat. You were just fed." Shin said.

The poofy black hair and brown eyes made it hard to continue to eat, so Shin brought the kid to the living room. Some toys were already there and a blanket was on the floor. Taro was on his hands and knees as Shin was lying on his stomach. It was almost a stare off until the baby took off crawling. Frustrated, Shin quickly got up to catch him.

"This is my payback isn't it?" Shin said as he picked the boy up.

The boy, not liking being picked up at the time, screamed.

"Oh no." he said, putting the boy down on the blanket again.

The boy stopped, and instead started to play with one of his toys. Taking the short time he had, Shin grabbed his bag to pull the stuffed dolphin out. He sat the toy down in front of his nephew. He then went to grab his food to finish. As he walked back into the living room, Taro was not on his blanket.

"Dammit." Shin said softly.

Setting the plate down, he started to search the rooms. Touma and Sayoko were correct that babies were hard. When he found the baby, Taro had gone through his green bag. There was a black boot in his mouth.

"No, boots are not baby food." Shin said taking the boot away.

He then grabbed his white hat and placed it on the boy.

"Play with that." He said, since he didn't have the white shirt to go with it anymore.

Taking Taro with him, Shin sat on a sofa and turned the TV on. Someone was watching the news before as Shin decided to turn the channel. He figured it was his mother who was watching it last. Stopping on some show about fish, Shin grew tired. Taro himself yawned as well.

"You're tiring, you know that." Shin said, as the boy started to fall asleep on his chest.

* * *

><p>When Shin woke, the baby wasn't there. He stood up quickly, almost tripped over a toy, and headed towards the noise in the kitchen.<p>

"He's up." He heard Sayoko say.

His mother was holding the baby, "I see you and Taro got along well."

"Kinda." Shin said rubbing his head.

Both of the women laughed.

Giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, Sayoko laughed, "You did fine little brother."

"Shin, you'll need to sleep well tonight. I have a lot of work for you tomorrow at the shop. We're shipping a lot of goods to Canada tomorrow and I need your strong back to help." His mother said, still facing the oven.

"Yes mother." Shin said, sitting at the table.

"How's your shoulder?"

"It's better."

"Good." His mother turned to bring plates over, "I was given some fresh salmon. I hope you can eat it Shin."

"I'll be fine. At this point I'll eat anything."

"Was the food not good?"

"It was… alright." Shin mumbled, "The cooks were not always consistent."

His mother gave him a sympathetic look, "Well, enjoy the home cooked food while you can. I wouldn't expect it to get any better in Somalia."

Dinner was quiet except for Taro's babbling. Shin knew that his family had many questions, but they were not asking them. He wasn't sure if they didn't want to bring it up or if they thought he was stressing.

"Oh," his mother said, remembering something, "Your Uncle Robert is flying into the airport tomorrow as well."

"Uncle Robert?" Shin had a confused look.

"You haven't met him. He's finally coming to Japan to visit." His mother continued, "And it's about time too. It's been almost twenty-three years since I've seen him last."

"Her older brother's an ex-pilot for some airline." Sayoko whispered into his ear, "He's a bit crazy."

"You've met him?"

"Once, but I was eight. It was at grandmother's funeral in Canterbury. He's missing something in his head though."

"Oh," Shin looked at his mother, "Where is he flying from?"

"London. He says that he's bringing us some things from the family."

"Why is he deciding to come out now?" Shin asked. He knew he was being rude, but he felt that it was strange for someone in the family to finally visit after not do so for years.

"I told him that you were in London for a short time, and we wants to see Taro." His mother said, "Also, he says that your cousin Frank is also in Somalia. I assume he just wants to talk about it since you are heading over there."

"Great." Shin snorted.

He received a look from his mother.

"I'll behave." He responded, "But if he starts giving you any grief for staying in Japan, I'll have to step in."

His mother sighed, "I expect he will, but don't worry too much about it."

"Mom, I don't want your blood pressure to rise."

"Nonsense, I can deal with my brother." His mother finished her food, "I'm turning in early. We have a big day tomorrow Shin."

"Yes mother." He turned to Sayoko, "Need help with clean up?"

"No Shin, I'll be fine. You should get ready for bed. Taro will keep me company."

"Alright, good night." He said, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Shin found himself the only one up. Grabbing some old clothes, he started breakfast for everyone. He had already started eating when his mother walked in.<p>

"Morning." Shin said.

"Morning."

"There's tea in the pot." He spoke, pointing to the oven top.

"Thank you. Take your time this morning. We don't have to be there until nine."

Shin nodded.

When they arrived at the shop, Shin recognized a few of the shippers. They all talked to him for a short time before they started packing. They spent a good three hours packing and lifting boxes into the truck. When he sat down for a breather, Shin stretched his back out. One of the shippers, Emi, went to school with him. She came over to have him sign for the shipment.

"Hey Shin. How has the Agency been?" the brunette asked.

"Busy. I'm heading to Africa in a few weeks."

"I've heard. Have fun over there."

Shin laughed at the girl's naïveté as he gave her the clipboard, "I will."

He heard his mother call him, "I have to go. Until next time."

Emi smiled, "Bye."

He soon was given a list of food to retrieve for lunch.

Shin was surprised on how many people in the area knew that he was going to Somalia. Since he had moved his mother to Yamaguchi for better hospitals, he didn't know them too well. Some people gave him sad smiles, while others wished him luck. He took them all in with no comment. He had food in his hand, so he really couldn't stop to talk to all of them.

As he returned to the shop, he asked his mother.

"They were all interested in what you were doing. I couldn't lie." She said, going through the bags, "Besides, they're friendly people."

"Alright," Shin said, leaning on a counter, "When is Uncle Robert supposed to come?"

"About seven. Now, I have some vases to finish painting. Can you watch the counter?"

Shin nodded. He waited for the door to close before looking for his book stash that was left in the store. When he found what he was looking for, he laughed. His mother had left his old comic books alone. Leaning back in his chair, he rested his feet on the counter. Unlike years before when he had done this, his feet actually could rest on the counter. He sat like that for a good hour and a half before Sayoko toss his feet off the counter.

"Don't you ever grow up?" she laughed, as Taro was now sitting on the counter.

"I do believe that the age of twenty is a sign of adulthood." He responded with a smile.

"Yes, by the government's standards." She then looked at his books, and sighed, "Has anyone come in?"

"No. We had a few window shoppers walk by."

"Okay. Can you watch Taro for a bit? I have to talk with mother about the garden in Hagi."

"Sure." Shin said, sitting up.

Looking at the boy, Shin spoke, "I should give these to you, but you'll probably have better manga by then."

Shin brought the boy off of the counter and into his lap. He attempted to read to him, but Taro wanted to eat the paper.

"Shin, don't let him eat your nasty old books." Sayoko said, walking out from the back.

"I was just trying to read to him." He defended himself.

"And I'll tell you the same thing I told Touma; he just wants to eat it."

Shin shrugged her off when she left with Taro. He fell back into his routine of reading until his mother came out a few hours later.

"I think I'm done for the day." She said, "Come on Shin, help me lock up."

* * *

><p>It was late at night when they all returned from the airport in Hiroshima with their uncle. Uncle Robert and his mother talked nonstop, like it hadn't been years since they last saw each other. Shin quietly drove, trying to ignore the man's weird questions. He was like a bad Monty Python sketch and his mother was laughing at his jokes.<p>

"Told you he's crazy." Sayoko whispered to him.

"No kidding." Shin said.

When Shin parked at the house, he quickly grabbed his uncle's belonging and brought them to a guest room. He didn't really want to join them in the kitchen.

"Heya Shin my boy, I'm glad you got rid of that mullet. You look more like a swinger now than a fairy. Doesn't he, eh?" His uncle said, looking at old photos, "Eh, those clothes though, boy. Do you shop in a seventies store of something?"

Shin growled. Like his uncle dressed any better. The man was wearing a tight pair of jeans, a turtleneck and a leather vest. There also seemed to be an old tattoo that he was hiding on his neck.

"Are you looking forward to going to Somalia?" he didn't give Shin a chance to answer, "I bet you are. My son Frank is there now. The young kid's getting around, if you know what I mean."

Shin watched as Sayoko sighed. Their cousin Frank was in his mid-thirties.

"Here you go Shin, an old picture of me and your mom." He tossed the photo after talking more.

Shin saw the close resemblance he and his uncle had. If it wasn't for the horrible neck tattoo, he would have thought that he was in the picture.

"Uncle, what's your tattoo of?" Shin asked, starting to recognize it.

"It was a bad mistake. Damn gangs if you know what I mean. We all thought it would be 'cool' to get snake tattoos." The man spoke, like he wasn't trying to offend him.

The look he gave him told Shin exactly what he wanted to know.

"That's odd." Shin spoke, knowing his mother would get on his case, "The man that shot me had the same tattoo. If you know what I mean."

"Boy, you better watch yourself."

"Shin," his mother interrupted, "Robert, let's not get into a fight on the first day. I don't I show you to your room, Bobby."

"Sounds great." The older man said.

After they left the room, Sayoko spoke, "What was that about?"

"Exactly what I said." Shin sighed, "The guys we fought in London had the same tattoo as well. I don't think it's just a gang. Something's coming."

"Does it have to do with the armors?"

"Yes." Shin sighed, "I just hope it doesn't happen until I get back."

"What are you going to do with Suiko?"

Shin sighed, "I gave it away."

"What?" Sayoko tried to keep quiet, "Why did you give it away?"

"Because if something happens to me, Suiko will be in Africa. I left it with Jun."

"The little boy that followed you all around?"

"Yes, he'll be fine."

"Shin…" she spoke softly, "You better hide before mom comes back."

"It already was in my thoughts." He said standing, "Night."

Heading to bed, Shin got chills after passing the guest room. He didn't slept well that night.


	16. Part 1 Ch 16

**Thanks for the review!**

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><p>The next few weeks were a living hell for Shin. He was starting to think his uncle was acting that way on purpose. Even when Ryuusuke met him, did he say something to Shin along the lines of 'your uncle is crazy.' But, Shin noted, his mother was happier and Shin wasn't going to ruin her happiness. There were several times when Uncle Robert would try to convince her to come back to England. His mother would politely decline. Half English or not, Shin couldn't imagine having to live near him.<p>

Every other night, Shin would call Yayoi. They'd chat for a bit before he would have to hang up to entertain his uncle. Two days before Shin was scheduled to leave, he received a visitor. He came to the door as Sayoko left with a grin. He gave her a look, wondering what was so funny.

"What are you doing here?" Shin asked.

Yayoi was standing there, with her arms crossed, "I came to see you before you left."

"Where are you staying?"

"A hotel not far from here. I didn't call first, so I could intrude in your house."

He quickly smiled, "I assume you'll want a tour. I don't recommend it at the moment though. My uncle's here."

"Oh. Is he someone I should avoid?"

"No, he's just crazy." He said, putting his shoes on, "Come on. We can go into the city."

"Alright. Can I get cleaned up first? I've been on a train for a while."

Feeling like an idiot, he opened the door wide for her.

"It's down the hallway towards the right." Shin said, smiling like a spoiled kid.

When Yayoi walked out the door, Shin had the car running.

"Where are we going?" she asked when they didn't continue into the city.

"It a surprise." He grinned.

"Okay. Does your sister or mom know where we're going?"

"Sayoko does. I'm not too worried about anything happening."

"And this is coming from the same guy that gets shot and picks fights at weddings."

"Both were not my fault."

"No, you're correct." She said, feeling bad about irritating him.

An hour later, Yayoi woke to a beach house. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for a few years.

"Where are we?"

Shin smiled, "Our old house. I figure I can let you take a brake as I go to the store."

"You're going to cook?"

"Of course, unless you want take out."

She smiled, "No, you haven't cooked for me yet. Seiji says you're alright."

"He says very things is alright." He said opening the door to the house, "It's just been cleaned, so no worries on messing your clothes up."

"Alright."

"I'll be back in ten minutes. You can hold me to it."

"Are you ok?"

Shin stopped, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad to be away from that man called my uncle."

"Is he that bad?"

"Yes." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll be back."

Yayoi took the time to look around. The sandy beach stood out to her. The waters seemed calm compared to home. There was a slight breeze as well taking the summer heat away. Making her head to the dock to wait, she took her shoes off and placed her feet in the water. Not paying attention, she didn't hear Shin come behind her. He sat down behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Nice view, isn't it?"

"It's lovely." She said, giving him a look for scaring her, "What are we having?"

"I thought I'd make some Korean food. You know; Bugolgi, kimchi and other stuff."

"Interesting."

"Then I bought some mint ice cream, because our breaths will smell." Shin smiled.

She laughed.

Unexpectedly, Shin got up took his shirt and pants off revealing swim trunks and dove into the water. Yayoi screamed from getting a little wet.

"What the hell?" she asked when Shin came back up.

"It's been a while. The water's perfect."

"What about the food?"

"It'll be fine. I have an hour before I can actually cook it all." Shin smiled before diving back under.

It was a good couple of minutes before he came back up.

"So are you just going to ignore me?"

"No." Shin smiled, "I know it's rude, but I can't help myself when I come here. I have to jump into the water. Besides you were enjoying the view."

"Is it that important?" she asked, not taking him seriously.

"Yes. I don't know how much swimming I'll be able to do when I get to Somalia."

Yayoi laid down on her stomach. During the moment of silence, she played with the water with her hand.

"Shin," she started quietly before speaking louder, "Don't play hero over there, okay? In med school we looked at a lot of injuries from war, and they were not pretty."

Lifting himself to the dock, he gave her a sad smile, "I'll be fine. I'll be handing out food and water to those who need it. The weapon is for just in case."

After a quick salty kiss, he headed back to the house.

"I'll start on the food."

It wasn't so much the food that made the night perfect, it was that Shin brought it out to her so they could eat on the dock. Well, she thought, the food was wonderful too. As the sun started to set, she began to fall asleep.

"I can take you back." Shin's voice brought her back.

She nodded, and stood to stretch.

She woke to Shin gently shaking her.

"We're back." He said, "I'll escort you back to your room."

"Alright."

It was a quiet walk to her room. Shin gave her a kiss before saying good night when Yayoi grabbed his hand.

"Stay tonight?"

Shin gave her a sad look, "I couldn't. Seiji would kill me if I did..."

"Seiji isn't as perfect as you think he is." She interrupted, "Besides, it's my turn to take care of you before you leave."

"If you insist." Shin grinned.

* * *

><p>As to make the day worse, it was raining. With a fresh haircut, Shin was waiting for his escort to take him to Tokyo. Sayoko had already taken his their mother back to the house, because of her health. Only Ryuusuke and Yayoi were there.<p>

"What's the guy look like?" his brother-in-law asked.

"He's supposed to be some American." Shin said fixing his tan uniform.

Surprising him with a bear hug, Shin turned to see Shu and Ryo right behind him.

"Did you think we'd let you leave without saying goodbye?" Shu said laughing.

"Shu, I can't breathe." Shin coughed.

"Sorry." Shu grinned, "So, are you ready?"

"Ready as I could ever be." Shin responded.

"Touma gave me this to give to you." Ryo said, handing him a wrapped package, a walkman with batteries and a couple cassettes.

"What is it?"

"Do you even want to know?"

Shin laughed, "No I guess I'll find out."

"Hi Yayoi." Shu grinned, "Enjoying Yamaguchi?"

She smiled, "It's not bad."

The group quieted down when a car pulled up to the train station. Although they were not in uniform, the men's haircuts made them stick out.

"Seaman Mori I assume," Asked one of the men in bad Japanese.

"Yes. I'm guessing you're my ride?" he replied in English, which to the men's relief, was better.

"I'm Technical Sergeant Tyler and this is Captain Parry. We're your escorts for today."

"May I have a moment before I leave?" Shin asked.

"Sure."

Shu and Ryo simply gave him a handshake. Ryuusuke gave him a hug and a few words of comfort. When he got to Yayoi, he was fighting tears. Yayoi had already given up trying to fight them.

"I'll be back in nine months." Shin said, hugging her tight.

"Nine months is a long time."

"Just don't date another doctor. I don't like fighting them."

She laughed, "Just, do not be a hero."

"I leave the hero thing to Ryo." Shin joked.

One of the Americans coughed, "We need to go if we're going to avoid traffic."

Shin nodded. He gave Yayoi one last kiss before getting in the car.

After they left the city limits, the Captain turned, "Is one of your friends a member of the soccer team in Tokyo?"

"He is."

"Man, I should have asked for an autograph." The other man said.

Shin laughed, "He's not much of a social person, but I could probably get him to give you a few things."

"You're completely not like we expected." Tyler said, "I was expecting a short Japanese guy, not Freddie Mercury."

Shin sighed, "I'm Japanese, just my mother's not."

After a while, Shin opened Touma's package. It contained a few magazines that Shin wasn't expecting.

"What the hell?" he asked, looking through an adult one.

There were also a few science related ones about the ocean and stuff, and a book but Shin was completely at awe with the current one he held. Looking at the note Touma included, Shin couldn't help but laugh.

_I know it's not what you expected, but I think you'll enjoy it after a few months of being around lots of dirty, sweaty men. I hope you enjoy the music too. By the way, Yayoi doesn't approve, so you should get rid of the magazines before you come back._

"Is that the recent Playboy?" the sergeant asked, looking back, "Let me see that shit."

"It's from March. Have fun." He had a feeling Touma picked that month on purpose too.

"You don't want it back?"

Shin gave him a look.

"I get it. I'll give it back."

Shin and the captain heard Tyler go on about the magazine until they were in Tokyo. As they were going through the gate, the guard made jokes. As the captain collected their ID cards, he started his briefing.

"Ok, so the aircraft we're taking you to will be carrying other support equipment. You'll probably be asked to help with minor things. It's going to head towards Germany first, and then you'll get on another flight to Mogadishu. We'll stop so we can get you some snacks. I was going to hook you up with some reading stuff, but it seems your friends hooked you up."

"He thought he was being funny." Shin added.

"Sounds like a good guy to me." The other one said.

They stopped at the shop. Shin was looking through what he thought he was going to miss, but it was mostly American snacks stocked. Grabbing some crisps and a Coke, he waited for the Americans to pay.

Soon he was at the plane. Part of him died inside as he watched Japan leave his sight.


	17. Part 1 Ch 17

**Here's the next one. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It was a great August day. Touma was at home with Hector. The now five year old boy was playing with a mixture of toys outside. Touma, getting used to playing with him, decided to sit down.<p>

"Touma, you can play Donatello and Raphael." The boy said, "Oh and you get Mr. Bucket."

"Of course." Touma said, after being handed the same toys he has become used to, "So what are the Turtles doing today?"

"Saving April from Megatron and Mr. Bucket. Wham! Oh no, Mr. Buckets is spitting out fire balls!"

Touma laughed, "I am the evil Mr. Bucket! I'm here to spit balls and eat them again."

"He can't say that."

"Why not?"

"He's the bad guy." Hector said, giving Touma a look.

"Fine, I'll take it back."

They were waiting for Carla to return from work before heading out. They had planned a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party for the boy. Touma had called his father to get some money for more 'books' to help his girlfriend out with the party. Although he wasn't allowed to work, his father would still send some money. Touma usually spent it on Hector or some random new book, instead of college things.

"Mueren las Tortugas!" Hector yelled, with Megatron in one hand and Michelangelo in another.

Holding Raphael, Touma made a smart-aleck remark.

"Touma that wasn't a good word."

The warrior of Tenku laughed, "He totally swears in the comics, but the kid show is good for you, I know."

Hearing a couple of doors slam, Touma heard Carla and her mother arguing about something in Spanish. Hector seemed to ignore it as they came closer.

"Mama, Grand-mama; Touma got me another Turtle. I have all four now!"

"That's nice of Touma. Did you say thank you?" Carla gave Touma a small smile.

"Si, Mama."

"Good," she turned to Touma, "We need to talk later. I prefer when Hector is in busy."

"Yeah." Touma said.

Her mother, Sophia, gave him a nasty look.

Piling into Carla's small car, they drove to a pizza place.

"Party, party!" Hector was calling out from the back seat.

Touma felt a bit jealous, knowing that all he got for his fifth birthday was a book, but the boy ran into the restaurant to meet with friends. He could help but laugh. Carla sighed. As he and Carla walked in, Hector quickly ran over.

"Touma, there's ninja turtles everywhere!"

"Cowabunga dude." Touma said.

"Cowabunga!" the boy yelled.

"It's a good thing there's plenty of room for them to run around in." Carla said, "Do you have many places like this in Japan?"

"Some, but I never went. I was apparently too smart for them." Touma had his arms crossed, "What's with your mother? She seems angry at me."

"Oh, she's angry with me too." Carla said.

"Does it have to do with what you want to talk about?"

"Yes." Carla sighed, "It's not completely bad."

"Oh, that's good. I was starting to think that I had to move back to Japan."

"You may want to after I tell you."

"Spit it out then. It can't be that bad." Touma said holding her hand.

"I'm pregnant."

Touma gave her a blank stare, "Like one of my sperm and one of your eggs joined together in you and had now imbedded itself as a zygote in your uterus, pregnant?"

"Is there something else they didn't teach us in school that I should know?"

"No." Touma sighed, "Ah fuck. So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you stay, but if you decide to not stay, we'll survive."

"Are you kidding me? Sure I know nothing about taking care of a kid, but I can't just let you take care of it by yourself. Trust me; I know what it's like not having parents around all the time." Touma paused, "I have to apply for a different kind of visa, and take a test and stuff to become a citizen and to stay here."

"You're going to stay?"

"Sure, Los Angeles has grown on me. Although driving on the right side of the road still scares me."

"Touma, Touma, watch what I learned." Hector said running over, and placing his fingers to the side of his face, "Chinese, Japanese, Swiss cheese!"

"Hector!" Carla yelled, "You shouldn't do that. It's not nice."

"What?"

Touma laughed, "I don't look like that."

Carla then laughed. The boy took the time to run off.

"Sorry about that." Carla said.

Touma didn't say anything about it, "So, does this mean I can save money and not buy condoms?"

"Touma," Carla sighed, "This is a big responsibility. I almost didn't go to school because of Hector."

"I know." Touma said, deciding that humor wasn't the best idea for this moment, "We'll be fine. I'll work on campus, or I can charge others for tutoring. Our kid's going to eat raw fish and refried beans. It'll be great."

He received a gentle push.

* * *

><p>The sun in Somalia was punishing Shin, while the ocean was teasing him. He would go swimming but there were too many sharks to attempt to. He was sitting in the sand with his shirt off, trying to stay cool, but also trying to enjoy the beach a bit. He was temporally on the American base waiting for his Pakistani counterpart to finish briefings. Colonel Amir Younis was a happy man, with a short beard. He was the doctor Shin was assigned to. The man stopped many times during the day for prayer, which he usually explained what he said to Shin afterwards. At first Shin didn't know how to take it all, but after a month and a half with the man, he was interested for knowledge's sake. Unknown to Shin, he was given the name Ameen. He didn't want to be rude and ask why he was given that name, but it bothered him a bit.<p>

"Ameen, dear friend, we are finished here." The doctor said, walking out to him, "We shall return to the stadium. Come friend."

Grabbing his things, Shin followed. Before entering the armor vehicle, he put his boots and shirt on and then his helmet and vest.

"How was the sand Ameen?"

"Soft surprisingly. It reminds me of home. Just it is hotter outside."

"Good. Later today, we are going to provide the people medical care. I want to make sure you are feeling ready."

"I'll be ready." Shin said.

Shin heard his name called when they entered the old stadium. It was one of the soldiers he was stationed with. Although they couldn't communicate very well, Abdul always invited him to a card game.

"Come. Cards." Was what he usually said after Shin tried to teach him some English.

"Okay." Shin responded, following.

The last part of July, Shin had always watched them play. Eventually he figured out that they were playing rummy. Eager to play, he jumped into the game.

On the table was a plate of flat bread, water and a hookah. At first he didn't touch anything on the table, but as the days went by, he started to enjoy the bread with them.

Today though, he gladly ate the bread. He missed breakfast, and couldn't get anything at the American base.

"Ameen?" one of the soldiers, held a pipe from the hookah.

Shin declined. The game went on for a couple of hours with one of the other soldiers winning. When Colonel Younis came to get him, he was relaxed and laughing along.

"Come dear friend, we have a job to do."

Grabbing his things, Shin and the others followed. It was a short ride to the countryside. While Shin and Colonel Younis were to treat any injuries or sickness, the others that came were searching houses for weapons.

He was redressing shrapnel wounds on a kid when the Pakistani soldiers came back. From the looks of their faces, they found something serious.

"Ameen, friend, stay here."

Shin nodded. Looking out an opposite window from the others, he could see someone watching them. Shin couldn't make out many details. Trying to look like he hadn't seen the guy, Shin continued to make the boy laugh with faces. When he was finished, he walked out to let the doctor know. Next thing Shin knew, he was on the ground. Bells were ringing in his ears. The building he just left blew up, and collapsed. Seeing that the others were not firing back meant the rebels were not picking much of a fight with them, but trying to scare them.

Getting up, Shin was still staring at the building that blew up. He couldn't believe that he was in there one moment helping a young kid, and then suddenly it was all gone. Throwing down his blue helmet, Shin let out a growl.

"Friend," Younis was offering a cigarette, "It's not your fault."

In his anger, Shin took it. He immediately coughed making the officer laugh.

"Come, we are done here." The doctor said.

They both stopped when a couple of the soldiers brought a man to them. Shin couldn't help but notice it was the same guy that was watching them. But what stood out to him was the fact that the man had the snake tattoo, and was giving him a mocking look.

'They're still following me.' Shin thought.

When they returned to the old stadium, Shin followed the other soldiers back to the card game. For the rest of the night, the hookah was his friend.


	18. Part 1 Ch 18

**Here's the next one. I had to pry myself from Skyrim to finish the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Seiji was in bed when he heard the phone go off. Assuming it was Touma about to torment him, he ignored it. Then the phone went off again, he got up and was ready to yell at his friend.<p>

"Touma, stop calling me at three in the morning."

"Is this Seiji Date?" the voice was female and in English. She sounded afraid.

Realizing his mistake, he spoke softer, "It is."

"Um, this is Carla, Touma's girlfriend. He just was attacked by these men who turned into snakes. He said to call you before he passed out. And what's with the armor?"

Seiji stood there dumbstruck. So what Kayura was talking about is happening. He didn't like that these people or things were attacking randomly though.

"Just stay calm. When he wakes up, he'll know what to do. Are you okay?"

"I have a few cuts, and my car is wrecked." She responded.

At this time, Nasuti had gotten up. Seiji gave her a look to wait.

"Okay, thanks." He said before the call was ended, "Touma was just attacked."

"By who?"

"Those men that we've been having problems with." Seiji sighed, "I'm calling the others"

When he talked to Shu, he found out that the same group also attacked Shin's family. Shin's mother was in the hospital for a heart attack and the pottery shop was burned down.

"Dude, I'm about to get Ryo and Jun. Do you want us to meet at Nasuti's big house?"

"Yeah, we'll be there shortly." Seiji said before putting the phone down.

"I'll get the bags packed." Nasuti said.

Seiji jumped when Yayoi showed up.

"What's going on?"

"Armor problems again." Seiji said, "You might have to go back to Yamaguchi."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"They're attacking family. Shin's mother is in the hospital."

"Oh no. He's not going to find out about it is he?"

Seiji sighed, "I don't know. Right know, Nasuti and I are about to leave."

The normal four hour drive to outside of Tokyo became a two hour drive. Nasuti was holding onto the handgrip of her red jeep the entire way.

"What if they attack the dojo?" Nasuti asked.

"Let's hope they don't."

"Is Touma going to be fine?"

"Besides having to deal with a frantic woman who has never heard about the armor, I think he'll be fine. It's Shin and our families I'm worried about." Seiji swerved around another car, "I hope Kayura is paying attention, because I have no idea what these guys are."

As they walked into the house, the others were already talking. Ryo was trying to calm an angry Shu as Jun sat quietly. Shortly, the Masho and Kayura showed up.

"Shu, come help me make some coffee. We may need it." Nasuti said, heading into the kitchen.

The warrior of stone agreed.

* * *

><p>It was late into the night on the third of October. Shin and a few others were awaiting word about the American soldiers stuck in the city and the two shot down helicopters. Standing outside with a cigarette in his hand, he could hear the fighting. Even though he was told to stay, his nerves were going crazy. He had tried to listen to the tapes Touma gave him. Then he tried the magazines. Even working out with a broom stick as a bo staff failed. The cancer stick was the answer he found. If only his mother could see him now.<p>

"Shin." He heard a female's voice from behind him.

He turned to see Lady Kayura standing in the shadows.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" the cigarette fell to the ground.

"Ryo sent me here. The others wanted me to tell you that your mother's in the hospital."

Sounding sad, he spoke, "I'm not surprised. Her health isn't getting any better."

"Well, that and part of it was caused by the snake-men."

Shin looked up at her, "The same guys that have been following me here?"

"Yes. I wish you didn't have to tell me that they're following you."

"They have. What else has happened?"

"You mother's pottery shop was destroyed and Touma was attacked in America."

Shin sat on the ground, "I should be home."

"We're doing what we can without you. Jun's quite the fast learner."

"That's not what I meant. I should be home taking care of my mother and the shop, not here where the people aren't caring if I help them or not."

Kayura sighed, "Shin."

"Let the other's know I'm fine." He said, stepping on the old cigarette, then lighting another, "Has Naaza found anything else on these guys?"

"No, but he's starting to think that they may be related to his people." Kayura paused, "Have you noticed any difference not having Suiko?"

Shin frowned, "Yes. Suiko used to clear my mind after something traumatic. Now everything that has happened, even when we fought Arago five years ago, is coming back to haunt me. Sleeping has been hard, and these nasty things are the only thing keeping me from losing my temper or sanity."

Kayura nodded, "I will let them know you what you have seen. Jun said to give you this. I will take my leave then. Take care, Shin. The others need you more than you think."

"Yeah." Shin said taking the object from her.

What he had in his hand was the Jewel of Life. He looked up with surprise, but Kayura was not there to see it.

"Ameen." He heard from behind, "You should be getting some sleep. I will come and get you when they come."

Hearing Younis, Shin nodded. Finishing the cigarette he was currently using, he headed towards his cot.

* * *

><p>It was mid November when the sky darkened. Everyone around Shin thought it was a weird weather change, but the former warrior of water knew better. Kayura came when she could to update him about what was going on back in Japan. Last time she came by, Touma and the Masho were looking for leads in California, while the troopers were doing the same in Japan. Neither group could find out who the men with the tattoos were.<p>

As they were unloading a truckload of rice, Shin noticed they were being watched again by the men with the tattoos. He could see the man signal him to come over. Looking around to make sure no one else saw, Shin took off towards the man. Seeing him come, the tattooed man took off. Feeling that he was going into a trap, Shin made sure he had the Jewel of Life on him. Satisfied, he began to run after the man. The run ended quickly, when a snake head crashed upon the walls of a building, causing Shin to react. He jumped back out of the way, tripping over debris. Coming back to his feet, Shin brought his weapon up. As quickly as he brought it up, another man grabbed it, and pulled it from him as Shin felt his head go in the other direction. He found himself pinned by a wall and the man.

"How does it feel, Suiko, to know that death is right around the corner?" the man spoke with a heavy accent.

Trying to loosen his knife, Shin responded, "Can you answer one question then? Who sent you?"

"That's two questions." The man said, revealing snake-like fangs, "And we of the Snake-men are not in the mood to answer silly questions."

The man went for Shin's throat as the warrior slammed his helmet into the man. Feeling a bit of pain from head butting the guy, Shin brought his now loosened knife across the man's face. He about to bring it down to finish the man when the other snake grabbed his arm. Shin turned away as the snake came, fangs showing. When nothing happened, Shin looked to see the Jewel shining brightly. The snake turned back into a man. Both of the snake-men were in pain from the sight of the Jewel. Grabbing the one still standing, Shin pushed him towards the wall. This one was younger than the other, and Shin hoped to get something out of him.

"Alright, what's going on? Who are you two working for?" Shin said, bringing the knife to the man's throat.

"He calls himself Masafumi Naotoki. He's some powerful demon-man."

"What does he want?" Shin toned his anger down.

"Some kind of snake armor. He's also looking for his brother Yamanouchi. I think they had some fight in the past."

"Then why are you targeting me?"

"He said that the Samurai Troopers may know. You're marked by a fellow Snake-man. We were told to 'follow the water, and you'll find the snake.'"

"What about your group working with Donn?"

"Donn, the Lord of the Dead?"

"Yeah that one."

"He was just another spirit who helped us find you."

Letting him go, Shin put his knife back. He picked his weapon up. The man on the ground gave him a look. Running back to the armored vehicle, Shin received a few looks from the Pakistani soldiers.

"Are you alright Ameen?" Younis asked.

"I've never felt better."


	19. Part 1 Ch 19

**Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. Everyone else, I hope you enjoy your Thursday.**

* * *

><p>Watching the Masho scare the captive snake-man didn't surprise Touma at all. They had set a trap in the local junkyard with Touma as bait. Rajura lend his powers to hide himself and the other two. The snake-man at first tried to ignore Touma's questions. When Naaza got his hands on the man, Touma watched the guy squirm. It probably didn't help that Naaza had one of his swords dripping venom on the guy.<p>

"Naaza, we can't kill the guy."

"Why not? I'll enjoy watching him scream like a little girl."

Touma sighed, "Because he hasn't told us anything. How are we going to find out who we're fighting if we end up killing the enemy before he talks?"

"Tenku is correct." Anubisu added.

"Fine." Naaza stared at the snake-man, "You better speak, or you'll taste my venom."

"Masafumi sends his regards, Yamanouchi. He says your armor will be his soon" The snake-man spoke.

"So, that's who it is. My dear little brother now comes to challenges me." Naaza let his sword 'slip' across the man's neck.

"Not more of you." Touma let out.

"Yes, Tenku, there are more of my kind."

"Your kind?"

"Didn't your parents tell you stories of the snake-men?"

"No, I read books about science and logic because my parents thought fairy tale were a waste of my smarts, since you know; I'm the logic and science guy."

"I think there's a story to be told." Rajura spoke, trying to hold his laughter from Touma's comment.

"It shall wait until later."

Touma sighed, "It's after three. I have to go pick Hector up from school."

"Fine, we'll wait at Miss Torres' home from work." Anubisu said, "I think there's left over enchiladas still."

"Yes, there is." Naaza spoke.

Touma laughed at the Masho's new found favorite food.

"I didn't think you were much of a family man, Tenku." Rajura teased.

"And I didn't think you all had a sense of humor."

It was a quick run to the school where Hector was waiting outside.

"Touma, were you out fighting bad guys again?" the boy said, crossing his arms.

"Yes. Am I cooler than Leonardo now?"

"You use a bow. Leonardo would beat you." The boy said.

Touma frowned, "I think I could show Leonardo a thing or two about bows."

"Maybe." The boy said, starting down the street before giving Touma a serious look, "Are you going to marry my mom soon?"

"Do you want me too?" Touma spoke, surprised the boy asked in the tone he used.

"Yeah, I think it would be cool to have a dad who's a super hero."

"But you just said that Leonardo would beat me."

"Because he uses two swords."

"But his swords are useless if I'm standing far away."

"He had his shells."

"And I have killer armor." Touma said, knowing that arguing with a kid is a headache.

"Leonardo has three other brothers to help him."

"I have eight other friends to help me."

"Do any of them use swords?" Hector stopped wide eyed with excitement.

Touma stopped as well, "Actually, four of them do."

"Then the sword is better."

Touma frowned, "You're truly too smart for your own good."

"And I'm only in kindergarten."

"Yes, you are in kindergarten."

"Can I meet your other friends?"

"Yeah, eventually."

"What are they like?"

Touma thought about how he could describe them, "Well, my friend Seiji is a lot like Leonardo. Wise, thoughtful and that kind of stuff. Shu would be like Michelangelo; the crazy dude. Ryo, well, Ryo gets angry kinda like Raphael. And Shin… hmm, Shin's like a kitten. All fun to be around until you make him angry and he'll scratch hard."

"Are they nicer than your friends that are staying here with us?" he made a face, "Because they're weird."

"Yeah, those guys are a completely different story. That will be saved for another time." Touma said, hoping the boy didn't continue asking about them.

"Can we have pizza for dinner?"

"We had pizza a couple of nights ago."

Hector cried out, "But I really like pizza."

Rolling his eyes, Touma took a deep breath, "We'll see what your mother wants."

"Please Touma?"

"Ugh, I can feel my arteries clogging already. What about ramen noodles?"

"On pizza."

"Why would you eat ramen on pizza?"

"Because it's something we both like!"

Touma sighed, knowing the boy was going to stick to his decision. Lucky for him, Carla had brought food home from a local Chinese restaurant. It was nothing like the Rei Fauns' cooking, but Touma wasn't going to complain about eating some rice.

"Yum… rice." Touma purred into his girlfriend's ear, "It beats the pizza that your son talked about."

"What did he say?"

"He wanted pizza with ramen noodles on it."

"You and your poor college kid food."

Touma laughed, "Did the others come home?"

"No, your strange friends haven't come back yet."

"Is your mother here?"

Giving him a look, Carla responded slowly, "She's outside reading."

Grinning Touma spoke, "Can I borrow you for a moment then?"

"Can I eat without you bothering me?"

"Fine." Touma frowned, before making a devilish face.

* * *

><p>Grabbing the phone, he started to dial Seiji's phone number. Seeing what he was doing, Hector asked if he could talk to his friend. Touma nodded, thinking that it would be funny to hear Seiji's reaction. Hearing his friend curse at him, he couldn't help but laugh when Hector got silly on the phone.<p>

"Okay, I'll take it now." Touma said, "Hey any news on your side?"

"Not anything new. These snake-men are just ruining things here. The Rei Faun restaurant was burnt down and they attacked a football game that Ryo was playing in. Ryo and Jun are out trying to find something. It's like these guys are messing with us with actually fighting us." He heard a long sigh, "Anything new on your side?"

"Yeah, we know who's leading this. Naaza has a jealous younger brother after the armors."

"He has a brother?"

"Yep."

"Why couldn't one of the other Masho have a brother?" he heard Seiji sigh.

"That's what I thought." Touma paused, "So now what?"

"You're Mr. Plans."

"Well then, if that's the case; I'll think about it. If we come up with anything I'll let you know." Hearing Carla yelled at him, he quickly finished, "I have to go. Carla's yelling at me."

"Like that's new," Seiji teased, "Later then."

* * *

><p>After his girlfriend left for her late night classes, Touma found himself on the couch watching some slow show. He found that it wasn't very good, but the poor acting and horrible story made it addictive. He was glad that Hector had got to his room though. The last time the boy watched a late night movie with him, Carla lectured them both on how important it was that Hector went to bed on time. The boy was sent to bed, and Touma receive an earful. The movie was interrupted by a breaking newscast. From the video, the warrior of Tenku assumed that the snake-men were behind it. Things became even more interesting when there were rumors of hostages taken. Checking to see if Carla's mother was around, he left a note saying that he'd be back.<p>

As he reached the scene, the police had the area around the college blocked off. The Masho were around because reports of armored men were going through the crowd. Taking off through the line of police, Touma came to a halt when he saw the three Masho fighting several of the snake-men and who he guessed was Masafumi. Unlike his brother, Masafumi was shorter and kept a Sengoku era appearance. Standing in front of him was a captured Carla and another student from the school. They were standing on the stairway before the college entrance.

Naaza was already taunting his brother when Touma arrived.

"He's has Carla."

"Yes, and she is lucky that she knows you otherwise she be dead along with my brother." Naaza responded.

"Always the impatient killer." Masafumi said, "I'm surprised you even have friends."

"He grew on us." Rajura answered.

"Guys, can we just save Carla?" Touma said, "You all can chit chat after."

"If you want her so much," Masafumi spoke, "catch her."

As he finished talking, he pushed the women hard. Running towards the stairs, Touma called his armor. The Masho also came forward to chase the enemy. As Masafumi ran into the college, the Masho followed.

"You okay?" Touma asked, after setting the women down.

The other student nodded, while Carla sat there. She had a look of distaste.

"Touma, what the hell is going on? Why are we constantly being attacked?"

"The bad guys have a way to mess with us through family." Touma frowned.

"Well, I'm so glad you mentioned this on our first date."

"Fight demons and spirits is not exactly a date sealer." Touma laughed.

"Just take me home."

As they returned to her house, Carla stopped him at the front door.

"You should take your freaky samurai thing back to Japan. It's not needed here as I have now two children and an elderly mother to take care of and no car." She then shut the door.

Touma heard her lock it. Taking the armor off, Touma seated himself outside the door. He was going to stay there until he was removed by the police, or Carla gave him a chance to explain why he wasn't leaving.


	20. Part 1 Ch 20

**Here's the next one. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Staring at his shoulder, his scars from the gunshot wounds did look like a giant snake bit him. Shin growled, knowing that he'll probably have more visitors that want to kill him. He just wished that he could let the others know what he found out. He would have to wait for Kayura to check on him, or try to find a phone that will let him call home.<p>

"Ameen." Shin heard Abdul call, "We play cards."

"Coming." Shin said.

Before heading out the door, he was stopped by a small hand pushing him back.

"Come, we need to chat."

"Kayura, it's good that you're here." Shin said in English before remembering who he was talking to, "I just found out who we're fighting."

"You did?" hearing other voices, Shin led her into another room, "Please tell."

"Masafumi Naotoki is his name. He's after a snake armor and someone named Yamanouchi."

"Naaza's original name is Yamanouchi. "

Shin sighed, "That would explain why they're following me. They're looking for him."

"And from you they found the other troopers and their families." Kayura sighed, "At least I have gifts for you."

She handed him several small boxes full of Pocky. There was also a picture of Seiji's wedding with all of them together, and a picture of Yayoi. He placed everything into a pocket.

"Give Yayoi my thanks and Jun as well. I was almost snake food if it wasn't for the jewel."

As Kayura took her leave, he quickly opened one box of the snack.

"Oh Pocky, you make almost being eaten by a snake worth it."

* * *

><p>The next few weeks, Shin found himself working with the British forces out in the country. Unlike his Uncle Robert, his cousin Frank was easier to get along with. He had invited him for tea once he found out who he was. Shin accepted, bringing a box of Pocky with him. It wasn't a long chit chat, but Shin found that he and his cousin were unlike each other. Frank liked to talk. A lot. And most of what he talked about was scotch and women.<p>

It was a long drive out to the village to search for unwanted weapons. Shin was fighting falling asleep from the bumpy ride and the heat. When he did fall asleep, he was quickly reminded on the bumpy ride as he hit his head on the seat in front of him. The soldier sitting next to him laughed.

"It's a bit bumpy"

"No kidding." Shin mumbled.

"Alright Gents, we're here." The driver said getting out.

"Shin, we have some hurt people here." He heard as he was getting out.

Looking around, Shin didn't see any of the snake-men around. He hoped that if there were, that they wouldn't blow up the building that he was going to work in. As he and another soldier walked in, gunfire from outside was heard.

"There's goes our peaceful day out the window." The other soldier said. Shin thought his name was Mick.

Shin ran across the building to the other entrance. Peeking outside, there was an older girl pulling her younger brother indoors. Even though it was an innocent thing, Shin felt his heart pumping fast. Between all the things that have happened since being here, he hadn't actually been in a fire fight. Looking back into the building he came out of, Mick could be seen looking out a window.

"How is it over there?" Shin called out.

"Dreary, boring." He responded, "There's nothing here, mate."

Shin sighed as he turned back to the street. The two children from before were looking at him before an elder boy came out. He looked about Jun's age, and was heatedly staring Shin down. The hair on the back of Shin's neck went up. The boy was pulling a weapon out, as Shin was having a brief flashback to the first of the snake-men. Mick heard the gunfire from behind him and went to check it out.

"Shin?" he called running out.

Shin was standing there, wide eyed and his jaw hanging down.

"I… he…" Shin was shuddering.

"Mate, it was you or him." He said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He was just a boy and..."

"And he pulled the pistol out on you intending to kill you. Come on; if you think about it too much you'll lose your mind."

The next few hours were full of loading unwanted weapons into trucks, writing down serial numbers, and smoking his last pack of cigarettes. Later they embarked their vehicles and took off. They would do the same thing the next day in another village. This time, it was quiet and gave Shin time to play with the children he checked on. Even though it was all melted from the heat, the Pocky was popular with the kids. When the weapons were loaded, they took off.

One thing Shin enjoyed about being with the British was the fact they had a phone he could use to call home.

"Moshi, moshi." He heard his sister on the other end of the line.

"It's not too late there is it?" Shin asked, knowing she'd realize who was talking.

"Shin? Oh dear, you're never too late to call. I was just making dinner." He could hear plates knock around, "What's going on?"

"Nothing important at the moment. I've been working with the British army for a couple of days. It seems that I'm a rent-a-medic."

"That's good."

"Are you stressed or something?"

"Yes and no. Mother's in the hospital and it doesn't look good. That snake gang that attacked us before did so again. Ryuusuke has been fighting the Maritime Agency to bring you home but they're such a pain. Yayoi has been off work for a bit to help us around the house and with Taro. She's out with Ryuusuke at the moment."

Shin frowned, "How bad is it?"

"It's bad, Shin." He could finally hear what she was actually feeling now, "The doctor says her heart is shot to hell. It's a miracle she's still alive. Ryo and Jun come around more often now. It's weird having two armored men around. Have you heard about Touma?"

"No. What's with him?"

"Oh, that smarty pants can't seem to wear rubbers correctly. His girlfriend is six months pregnant and they're fighting over the armor. At least they're talking again. He almost came home."

"How's everyone else?"

"Shu has had to be held back from going to Africa to get you many times, and Seiji is the same."

Not wanting to stop the conversation, Shin said his farewells before handing the phone to someone else. Being stopped by some of the fellas from the vehicle, they invited him over for some 'wobblies.'

"Wobblies?" Shin questioned.

"Here." Mick tossed him a beer, "After a few you'll be wobbling around like a buffoon. Here's another box of cigarettes too. I saw you were out of them."

"Thanks." Shin said opening the box to pull one out.

"What's eating you?" Mick asked.

Shin let out a breath of smoke before answering, "Mum's in the hospital for good."

"That's a bloody shame. Here's another beer. It seems like you need a few. I might be able to find you something stronger if those don't work."

Shin gave him a sad smile, "I think two will be perfect."

"Are you joining us tonight on our job well done?"

"I'll think about it."

"Ahh, come on. Don't be that bastard that goes and hides. You're practically one of us now."

"Alright then, I'll come."

It was probably the worst decision he had made. After the two beers, Shin was feeling great. A forced few more later made him dumb. The lack of tolerance made the night short though. Along with the headache in the morning, he seemed to have misplaced his pants, shirt and boots. What made it worse was that it was six in the morning and he had a ride back to the stadium to catch. Younis gave him a look before giving him some aspirin.

"Ameen, I have some news for you after you finish with the toilet." The doctor said, standing outside of the latrines.

"What is it?" Shin was leaning at the door now.

"You have a flight home tonight."

"I do?"

"Yes. Apparently, your mother's in the hospital. We found out about it a week ago, but couldn't get in touch with you."

Shin would have jumped for joy, but his stomach said otherwise causing him to run for the toilet again.

After spending the day trying to sober up and pack, he was finally set to go home. He gave the magazines away to Abdul, who thanked him many times. He was about to board when Younis gave him his goodbyes.

"I wish you well, dear friend. Whatever Allah has in store for your mother will be the right choice however hard it may seem to be."

Shin nodded, "I've been meaning to ask why everyone here called me Ameen."

"Ah yes. Well since we had to use English to communicate, I believe there's a word for the front of the lower leg that shares the same pronunciation. I very well couldn't yell shin. It would have been confusing."

"Oh." Shin blushed, not realizing that the doctor was correct.

"But I also saw in you a man with a pure heart. You may be a confused man now, but you will find your way. Let people give you that same trust you give them. And you should avoid alcohol. It only makes morning hell."

"Thank you." Shin laughed before turning to get on the plane.


	21. Part 1 Ch 21

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>When Sayoko saw her brother get off of the train in Hiroshima, she was surprised at the weight he lost. He looked tired, and badly needed a shower, but the hug she received from him overpowered it all. It was a quick drive to the hospital, where she watched Shin take off towards their mother's room. She sighed as she could remember many times her younger brother taking off as a kid to hurry when their mother was sick. As she walked into the room, she could hear her mother lecturing Shin about smelling like smoke. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, Ryuusuke pulled her out of the room.<p>

"It's like trying to listen to one of those old English literature books in there." He said, "I could have just brought those two into class instead of reading Jane Austen."

"Ryuusuke, that's mean." She then smiled, "They just have a different relationship. He's always been her baby."

"Is that jealousy I hear?"

"No. I was over being jealous years ago. I'm just worried for him." She sighed, "He's smoking. He's never smoked."

"Mr. Goody Two-Shoes is a bad boy after all."

"It's not funny."

Taro, in his father's arms, mumbled something incoherently.

"Watch him, please." She said.

"I have been, all day."

"No, I'm taking Taro. Watch my brother."

When she came back from feeding the one year old boy, Shin was asleep in a chair leaning onto the bed. Ryuusuke had the TV on the news as her mother was trying to read. She handed the boy to her husband before forcing Shin to wake up.

"Come on, we're going to the hotel so you can refresh yourself."

"Alright." He spoke softly, not wanting to get up.

As soon as they walked out of the hospital, Shin brought a box of cigarettes out.

"You're not smoking that in the car." She said, a bit frustrated, "You shouldn't even have them."

"Sayoko," his voice deepened, "Don't start. I'll be done before we reach the car."

As they reached the car, she watched him instinctively flick the butt into the bushes. She didn't say anything when they entered the car. It was a long drive to the hotel because of traffic. Like the ride from the train station, neither of them talked. She didn't want to upset him, and he didn't seem to want to talk anyways.

"Can we stop and get something to eat?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"Just stop here." He said pointing out the gas station. He was in and out fairly quickly.

Sayoko noticed he bought a sandwich and a pack of cigarettes.

"How many packs do you smoke a day?"

"Sayoko…"

"It's just a question."

Relaxing back in the seat he calmed himself, "Two if I can get my hands on them."

"Shin."

"Sayoko, don't. Please."

"But Shin, it's really not.."

She jumped when Shin hit the dashboard, "Just drive the damn car woman!"

She hit the brakes abruptly, causing Shin to hit his head and drop his sandwich over him. Seconds later, he apologized for yelling.

While Shin was taking a long shower, Sayoko sat watching a sappy show. Knowing that she would become emotional watching the soap opera, she had a box of tissues next to her. When Shin came out of the shower, he found himself wondering what was going on with his sister. She was balling her eyes out.

"Sayoko, I'm sorry about earlier and,"

"Shin, I'm watching a soap opera. I'm not mad at you." She said, now laughing, "Stop walking around in a towel."

"Right, clothes."

He walked back out while trying to get his old blue sweatshirt on. It was a bit small from when he wore it last.

"You still have that old shirt?"

Shin laughed sitting down on the bed with her, "I need to throw it away. It's tight."

"It's almost over, and then we'll head back."

"Ok, I'll meet you down there." He got up grabbing his wallet, lighter, and cigarettes.

Sayoko sighed. She had never seen him so tense and short tempered. Grabbing her jacket, she headed out the door when she was almost run over by the door.

"Sorry. It's so cold outside." Shin came in shivering.

"It's only four degrees outside… never mind. I think Ryuusuke packed another jacket and maybe a hat." She pulled out a pink stocking cap, "I only have a hat in pink."

"That's fine. I've been caught wearing worse."

* * *

><p>The next few days were rough, she thought. Their mother was getting worse, and Shin's temper was getting shorter. There were a few times she had to kick the men out of the room. The day the other troopers came, she shoved Shin out the door and asked them to keep him out of the room for the day.<p>

"He is driving me crazy." Sayoko let out.

"He's just used to a different stress. Having your mother slowly die in a bed without knowing if they can find a donor seems to push him differently."

"You are not helping."

"I know that I have two healthy parents and haven't experienced this yet, but it's obvious he's freaking out. How was he when your father died?"

"He was too young to remember it." She sat down, putting her face in her hands, "Are you sure you only work with sea life?"

"Your brother might as well be a book. I can read him too easily. Is there something else we might not know of?"

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Okay, have one of the other guys do it." He watched her face drop again, "Want me to do it?"

"Could you?"

Getting up, he gave her a kiss on the head, "Yes dear. I will give your brother another man talk."

It was the early morning when Shin was allowed back in his mother's room. Sayoko made him breathe out, checking for signs of drinking. Satisfied, Sayoko left for breakfast leaving Shin and their mother in the room. She was meeting Ryuusuke and Taro in the cafeteria.

"Tea?" he asked with a big smile.

"Yes please." She took a sip and sighed with relief, "He didn't drink last night."

"He's fine." Ryuusuke said, knowing that she was going to continue to rant, "We'll deal with it after your mother gets out of the hospital. You're going to give yourself wrinkles if you keep freaking out."

"Tea!" Taro yelled out, trying to reach for the drink.

"Yes, it's hot."

The sound of crashing trays was heard as a bunch of doctors took off. The couple gave each other a look. Ryuusuke continued to eat as he watched his wife struggle to stay in her seat.

"Go. I'll catch up." He said softly.

She took off, mouthing 'thank you.' She stopped when she saw Shin sitting outside of the room. He was hiding his face.

"What happened?" she asked calmly.

"We were talking. She asked if I was planning on finishing the shop when we got home. I said that I would. She breathed out, smiled, and then coded." He wiped his face, "I tried to help her, but…"

"It's okay Shin." She said sitting next to him.

* * *

><p>For the next month, she watched him hurt. He had a hard time with getting the Maritime Agency to release him from service early. When that was taken care of, he locked himself in the back of the shop to paint requests. In the midst of his mental breakdown, as Ryuusuke called it, Sayoko did see an increase of sales. For whatever reason, the painting and such was bringing something out of her little brother.<p>

Sharing lunch with Taro and Yayoi in the shop, she would glance back to the back office door.

"He'll come out sometime." Yayoi said.

"I guess I'm more worried about him choking on the smoke back there. Has he talked to you yet?"

"A little bit." Yayoi said, "He was outside sitting under a tree, and we had a short conversation about the weather."

"The weather?"

"Yes. He then got up and went inside."

Sayoko sighed, "It's so tempting to call his friends and tell them to kidnap him and throw him into a river."

"But there's snow."

"And it'll wake him up from whatever world he thinks he's in."

* * *

><p>That night, three figures stood outside of the shop. A light was shining through the high placed windows. Two of the larger figures boosted the shorter one up. After finding a way in, the shorter figure noticed Shin sleeping on a sofa with an opened book on his chest. Sneaking around the office, he unlocked the door to the front of the shop. Together, the three figures tied a tired Shin.<p>

"Shhh, this is for your own good." One said.

"Shu?" Shin said, angry from being woken up and tied up.

"Dammit. So much for doing this in surprise." He said taking his mask off.

The other two did so too, revealing that Ryo and Jun were helping. Using tape to shut Shin's mouth, they stuffed him into Ryo's car. Soon Shin found himself thrown into the Saba River with his friends, sister and Yayoi standing over him. He would have screamed, but his mouth was still covered. He could see Yayoi watching a stop watch.

"I have a couple of minutes to preach to you before we have to pull you out." Sayoko said, "So, I get it. You're hurting inside. None of us have taken mother's death very well, but I'm not letting you rot away in the shop. But dammit, it's depressing. And you're not bringing those cigarettes back to the house. You're staying outside of Tokyo with Seiji and Nasuti until you cleaned yourself up. I didn't want to kick you out, but enough's enough. Ryo, Shu; get him out."

The warriors of rock and fire did so. Besides shivering, Shin had a look of embarrassment. He was untied, and brought to Ryo's car to warm up. Jun and Shu got into the car beside him as Ryo and Yayoi took the front.

"Sorry Fish-boy." Shu said, "We can't let you suffer alone. We'll need you to help us beat this snake dude."

"I'll give you Suiko when you're ready." Jun added.

"You're quiet Ryo." Shin muttered.

"I'm just glad to see you back and in one piece. Like Shu said, we need your help."

"Yeah, we miss your fluff ball of a head." Shu added, "And your cooking. And you owe Yayoi a sexy date by a candle light. Besides, New Year's coming soon. If nothing happens between now and then, we're partying in Tokyo."

"So, is it safe to assume you guys brought some of my things along?"

"I already had bags packed. Sayoko and I did it as they were grabbing you." Yayoi said.

Shin let out a sigh before laughing, "You guys threw me into a river in December."

"Best rude awakening you'll ever get." Shu said loudly pulling the wet warrior in for a noggie.

"And you're getting a wet hug." Shin laughed, pulling his friend into a cramped hug.

"Now I'm wet."

Jun laughed at Shu's misfortune, but got a wet hug too.

An hour into their drive left only Ryo and Yayoi wake.

"Do you think he'll be okay with us?" Yayoi asked.

"He's Shin; he always bounces back after something traumatic." Ryo said, sounding a bit concerned with the last part, "He has to."


	22. Part 1 Ch 22

**Enjoy.**

It was early in the morning when Seiji sat outside enjoying the quiet. He was waiting for the others to show up. Although he was eager about talking about what to do against their now known enemy, he wasn't too happy about having Shin around. He was still angry at him for ruining his wedding reception and that the warrior of water seemed to be having other problems. Deciding it was not worth bringing up, Seiji had other things to do. Touma was also on his way along with the Masho to discuss how to finally stop the terrorizing of their families. That was the priority. Or maybe Nasuti sweetly working her way onto his lap was the priority. Oh man. He wasn't going to fight that.

"Morning." She said, "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"No." Seiji smiled, "You never disturb me."

He soon heard the honking of a car horn.

"That disturbed me." Seiji growled, seeing Ryo's car pull up to the house.

"Yo Seiji!" he heard Shu sing, "We're starving, man."

Seiji cursed under his breath, causing Nasuti to laugh.

"I'll get breakfast started." She said.

"You have Shin and Shu now. Put them to work."

She didn't have to because both Shu and Shin were already in kitchen arguing about what to make. Yayoi was standing silently, laughing as they duo argued.

"No Shu, we're not using the entire fridge."

"Big breakfast Shin. That's what we all need to start the day."

Watching Shin throw his arms up in defeat, he walked out.

"Morning Nasuti." He said.

"Nice to see you're doing fine." Nasuti smiled.

"I could be better. I'll be at the dock if anyone needs me."

She nodded. Turning to Shu, he already pulled most of the fridge's food out.

"Aww, did he leave?" Shu asked.

"Yes he did."

* * *

><p>At the dock Shin, Jun, Ryo and Seiji were talking. Three of them were talking about Suiko, as Shin stood by silently, smoking.<p>

"Do you want Suiko back?" he heard Ryo ask.

"I don't want Jun to be stuck with it anymore than what he's had to." Shin responded.

"It wasn't a problem, Shin." Jun said, "It was getting easier to use."

"It's not your burden to bear." Shin said a bit harsher than he expected to, "You shouldn't have to pick up a weapon at your age."

Jun gave him an angry look as Seiji was interested about what Shin said.

"You were my age when you took it."

Ryo interrupted, "Jun breakfast should be close to being served. Can you check on it, please?"

Jun nodded.

"Shin, what's up? You've been avoiding him."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's part of the reason you're here is that you won't talk." Ryo said, "You're worse than I am. How are you going to get better if you don't open up?"

"Ryo, it's not something I want to share."

"It wasn't disgraceful was it?" Seiji asked.

"No. It…" Shin sighed, "It's just something that I don't need to share."

"Yes you do."

"You're as bad as my sister and brother-in-law, Ryo."

"They did ask me to get it out of you. They both said that it wasn't just your mother's passing that was bothering you. And after you avoided Jun on that one night into town, I can see there's something else. Spill it." Ryo said, starting to lose his temper.

"It's not going to hurt you to let us know." Seiji said, "You need help, and we're here to listen."

"Fine." Shin growled. He pulled another cigarette out, "I had a boy about Jun's age pull a weapon on me and I had to kill him. We were on a mission to collect weapons, when some of the rebels fired on us. He came out of his family's house or something like that. I think he was just trying to protect his younger siblings. That was the only time I ever had to use a gun on someone. So went I hear Jun talk about using Suiko, I immediately think about the boy."

He paused to fight tears, "I can't let Jun keep Suiko."

"No wonder you smoke like a chimney."

"That's not the reason I started, but it certainly added to it."

"What else?" Seiji said.

"In July, there was a school that blew up after I just finished helping the kids. That one was the snake-men's fault." He paused again, "Please don't tell the others. They can't know."

Seiji was about to argue it when Ryo interrupted, "Your secret is safe with us, Shin. Let's go eat."

Grabbing Shin before following Ryo, Seiji gave him a warning, "Don't let this affect you and my sister being together. I will still kill you if you hurt her, armor or not."

"I get it." Shin said, taking back his arm.

* * *

><p>The sound of laughter surrounded the table as the food was laid out. Everyone had a comment about Shu's eating habits, and Jun even mentioned the man's gut that had started to show. The rest knew, but Shin gave Shu a look.<p>

"What, you work in a restaurant. You should actually, because you make Seiji look fat." Shu said.

"Hey."

Shin pointed a finger at him, "If you didn't eat everything during the day, you wouldn't gain weight."

"I don't try the food during the day. Most of the time." Shu said standing up, "When we have the new restaurant, the kitchen will be bigger. I'll be further from all the food."

"Shu, sit." Shin laughed, "You look like an ass."

"Fine, but I'm not fat. I'm just not growing like I used to."

"It's called getting fat." Seiji added.

"Training session anyone?" Ryo asked.

He received a bunch of okays and a grunt from Shu.

"Shin, can you help us with the dishes?" Nasuti asked getting up.

He nodded, following Nasuti and Yayoi into the kitchen. As the others were out making a mess of the yard, the trio in the kitchen successfully made one in the kitchen. Once the water hose became a weapon, Nasuti quietly escaped the kitchen with a grin leaving the other two. Realizing that they were left in a wet kitchen, they both laughed.

"She left us on pur-" she was interrupted by Shin's kiss.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you the past month. It was lousy of me and disrespectful. And I didn't even thank you for the gifts."

"Apology accepted. But for next time, talking about the weather is not a good I-haven't-seen-you-in-months conversation."

"I realize that, and Shu's right. I do owe you a candle light dinner with the way I was treating you."

"Well, that'll have to wait. I have to get back to Sendai. Some of us have jobs."

"Right, a job. Something I seem to be lacking right now."

"Well, help me clean the water off the floor. You can come when Nasuti takes me to the train station."

* * *

><p>Shin was standing on the porch watching the others beat each other up. He felt nervous about joining them later. He worried that Suiko would not let him retake the armor. Three years ago, he would have jumped at the chance to leave Suiko with Jun.<p>

Yayoi joined him leaning on the rail, "Ready to rejoin them?"

"Yes. I feel useless standing here." He started laughing, "I'm free from Suiko, and Jun seems to handle Shu pretty well."

Jun had knocked the warrior of rock into the lake.

"I've noticed he's a quick learner." Yayoi turned to face him, "You have something on your face."

"Where?" Shin said, ready to get it off. Instead she kissed him.

"Go get a room." They heard Shu yell.

"Please don't." was Seiji's reply soon after, "It's not funny Yayoi!"

"You did that to tease him?" Shin laughed.

"Anyway I can mess with my brother I will. We're about to go anyways so finish that cigarette you've been hiding from me."

* * *

><p>The two women in front were talking about a quick run to the mall before Yayoi got on the train. Even though Yayoi declined, she thought it was funny to mention that Shin could be the bag guy. He scoffed in disapproval.<p>

"Why the change of heart, Shin?" Nasuti asked, "You'd normally jump at the chance to."

"He's angry that I caught him smoking before we left."

"I am not. I wasn't even trying to hide it."

Glancing back, Nasuti could see that Shin was blushing, "Liar."

"Okay, I was. But that's not the reason."

"What is it then?" Yayoi asked.

"What if I don't feel like it?"

Both women laughed at him.

"What?"

Nasuti calmed herself, "I've never seen a selfish Shin. Have you Yayoi?"

"No. He was always kind, helpful and such a gentleman. Opening doors, and offering me a cup of tea when I show up."

"Yes he was. There was one time he jumped into the lake to recover a rowboat for me after a storm. It was cold and raining that day. It was so sweet."

Shin sat up in the chair, "You two are mean, evil women like my sister."

"And he never said anything bad about women." Yayoi said, "Yes, your sister told me about the car thing."

"What did he do?" Nasuti asked in surprise.

"'Drive the damn car woman!'" Yayoi said.

"Shin!" Nasuti gasped, "You didn't really say that?"

"I got what I deserved."

"Still." Yayoi said, "What are we going to do without the kind Shin?"

"I guess we'll have to expect Seiji to fill in."

"I was hoping Ryo would. He could make a good gentleman."

"His temperament has calmed down recently."

"Fine." Shin interrupted, "We can go to the mall, and I'll gladly carry everything."

Yayoi shook her head, "We already said we were not going."

"What was the point of this then?"

The both laughed, before Yayoi spoke, "It was a test, and you failed."

"What was the test?" Shin was now sitting back in his seat, arms crossed, and aggravated.

"Kayura told us about you not having the armor to block certain feeling and memories. So when Sayoko told me about the incident with her, I had to try it out. And it seems that you are now just another man with an anger problem." Yayoi said, trying to not laugh, "But seriously, you should go see a head doctor. It's a typical reaction from people coming home after something tragic."

"Seiji and Ryo didn't talk to you, did they?"

"No, and I guess you told them to not tell us."

"I did. It's just, I don't know." Shin spoke softer.

"It's okay Shin. We just want to make sure you're getting help." Nasuti said, "And if you don't mind, I'd like you to tell me about the differences of not have the armor so I can record it, since you're one of the only few Samurai Troopers to give the armor up."

"Alright."

* * *

><p>The rest of the ride was quiet. Nasuti said her goodbyes, before leaving them alone. She was in the old red jeep when Shin came back. He got into the jeep and didn't say anything for the first ten minutes of the drive back.<p>

"Am I really that different?" he finally asked.

Nasuti sighed, "Yes. With the few hours being around you, I've noticed you carry yourself differently."

They both felt the jeep jump, and a loud noise came from the back. Getting out, Shin noticed a flat tire. They were on a small road miles from the city.

"I'll get it." He said.

It started to snow lightly. Nasuti stood outside her door, watching the jeep lift. As the snow started to come down harder, she thought she saw a few people in the distance. They looked to be walking towards them.

"Shin," she said walking around to him, "There are a few people coming."

Leaning out to look for himself, he too saw them.

"Nasuti, help me." He said in a worried tone.

Shin would often check to see if they were still coming, and they were. He couldn't make them out very well, but he had a bad feeling about them. After lowering the jeep, Shin looked up to see a fist come at him. Moving out of the way, he brought the tire iron up at the man. He knocked the snake-man down, before pushing another out of the way. He heard a snap, and a cry out of Nasuti. Looking, he saw that she had punched one of them in the nose and was holding her hand in pain.

"Nasuti, leave." He said.

She nodded, and got into the jeep. It slid into a couple of the men from the snow.

Standing there with the iron tool in his hand, Shin counted five more standing around him. All of them heard a loud roar from the trees. Shin didn't know what to expect, and the snake-men didn't either from the looks on their faces. After the first snake-man was tackled from the white beast, Shin grinned. The others ran off, yelling something about tigers.

"Byauken," Shin smiled, "Can you give a guy a lift?"

Nasuti was going through her bag trying to find her phone. She was hoping that the others were done being outside to pick up. Looking at her rearview mirror, she saw the tiger.

"Shin, I was worried." She said after stopping the jeep.

He laughed, "I was saved by a shining knight in white fur. Those guys didn't like him at all."

The tiger grunted, before taking off into the woods toward the house.

"Something must be up though." Nasuti said "No one's seen him in a few years."

"Then we should go."


	23. Part 1 Ch 23

**Thanks for the review. I just started a couple of classes, so the updates may be slower, but I won't forget about it. This chapter is a lot of conversation, by the way and there's a lot of swearing in the beginning. Just so you all know. Enjoy.**

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><p>Later that night the rest of their group had shown up. Ryo commented about how strange it was to have everyone together again. But they soon found out that not everyone wanted to be there. Touma was being a bit frustrating. He started the meeting by saying that he didn't want to go with them, but rather stay at home to take care of his delicate relationship. It turned for the worse when Shin said something.<p>

"Oh, the gallant hero. Back from killing innocents are we?" Touma taunted.

"What? I wasn't killing innocent people."

"That's right, because Shin couldn't kill a fly stuck on fly paper. Why don't you take your thoughts and jump in the lake."

"Just because you're in your stage of doubting the armors doesn't mean you can just leave."

"If I remember right, you left all of us because you were sick of fighting and you don't even have Suiko right now. You're a punk ass hypocrite who thinks he's doing what is right and it fucked us over. I'm going home to protect my girlfriend's family _with_ my armor because real men protect family. They don't leave them to enjoy Africa."

"Fucking bastard, come here and I'll show you what a real man is like."

"Nah. You're not even worth fighting at the moment."

"Touma," Seiji started, "We need to end this problem."

"Fuck you Seiji, you haven't had family issues. You're family hasn't even been attacked."

"And listening to your girlfriend freak out on the phone was easy?" Seiji said calmly.

Sitting quietly, Shu and Ryo looked at each other.

"Is it weird that our most level-headed friends are fighting?"

Ryo nodded, "Alright, that's enough. We've all had problems with these guys, but we don't need to be arguing with each other. We're letting them win."

Touma growled, as Shin relaxed his fists. They were still both staring at each other, ready for the other one to make the first move.

"Naaza, you know where to find your brother so we can stop him right?" Seiji asked.

"I do, but it's not fun getting there; especially now that you all can't get along."

Rajura laughed, "I wonder how you boys even defeated Arago."

"That's not helping." Ryo said, "We need to get in there."

"Didn't you just hear him," Touma said, "It's going to be difficult. We should get him here on our own turf where we know what to expect."

"Someone's gotten lazy during his stay in California."

"Someone should have stayed in Africa."

"And abandon my dying mother?"

"She wouldn't have died if you were there to protect her."

While the two went back and forth arguing, Ryo looked at the others.

"Any ideas?"

"It would be best to go after him." Naaza said, "But the part of the Demon World he lives in is dangerous. Just the land itself can do harm. We would all need to be in the right mind set of getting to him. All this bickering will just harm us."

"It's harming my ears." Anubisu added, "We should break up into groups when we get there. One to cause a distraction and the other to hunt him down."

"We could send the two of them in for a distraction." Shu said, "Because at this rate, we'll all go crazy."

"We need to decide soon, because having Suiko and myself near each other is a perfect way for Masafumi to find me when we're not expecting him. And he wants this armor."

Seiji cleared his throat, "So we put Shu, Shin, Ryo and Anubisu on the distraction team. The rest of us will try to out think Masafumi. With Rajura's illusion, it should work."

"Sounds perfect to me." Rajura said.

"And we get to knock heads together." Shu grinned, hugging Ryo.

"Yeah." Ryo said, not taking the hug well, "Jun, we'll need you to give Shin Suiko back."

"Alright." The teen said.

"Kayura, can you watch over our families?" Seiji asked, "They'll need someone."

"I can. It won't be easy though."

Ryo then walked towards the two still arguing, grabbed them both by their ears and threw them outside in the snow.

"You two are horrible. You can both sit out here and chill for a bit while us adults talk." He said before going back inside.

"Great, you got us tossed out." Touma said and Ryo slammed the door.

"Me? You know what, never mind." Shin then headed towards the dock.

Shivering from the cold, Touma decided to follow. He found the cold to his dislike, and he heard the door being locked. Misery was best together anyways. He found Shin smoking while watching the snow fall.

"Eh, sorry about all of that." Touma said, "I've just never worried about family before."

Shin grunted, "It's not easy worrying about family."

"And I shouldn't have called your mom a slut. She was a nice woman and took care of me when I stayed there. What she did outside of the bedroom isn't my business."

"Got it."

"And you're getting Suiko back so you're not really bailing on us again."

"Touma, I get it." Shin said, pulling another one out.

Deciding that watching the clouds was a better idea than just standing there, Touma laid down on the snow covered dock. Minutes later they were both laughing at the clouds passing overhead.

"When I was little, I thought snow tasted like sugar." Shin laughed.

"Really?" Touma was then sticking his tongue out to catch the flakes, "Tastes like frozen water to me."

"Yeah, well, you have no imagination." Shin teased.

Touma changed the subject, "I'm having a girl in June and I think Carla still hates me for having the armor. What the hell do I do with a baby girl?"

"Take care of her. Girls aren't that bad to live with. You just have to remember that they tend to be emotional."

"I think if it were a boy, I wouldn't be freaking out." He sighed, "He could do what I did, but I'd be there more."

"I think you will be fine. If anything, you'll just read up about girls and what they need. I just remember Sayoko needing makeup and lots of time on the phone when she was in high school." Shin smiled, "But that's from the view of a five year old boy."

"Ugh you're no help." Touma growled, "What did I get myself into?"

"Have you talked to Seiji about it? He has a younger sister."

"No, he'd just laugh at me and say 'for once, the mighty brain fails to know.'"

They both thought about it before laughing.

"I think Seiji just hates me." Shin sighed, "I keep interrupting his ever pleasant life."

"We're both pathetic." Touma said, "We got kicked out of Seiji and Nasuti's house."

"I'm beginning to think it's a trend for me."

"You are breaking the bro code with dating his sister."

"But she's so fun to be around. I just want to cook for her every night which I haven't been able to do. I wish she didn't have to go back to Sendai today."

"Well, Seiji hasn't killed you yet."

"No, but I think he will eventually."

"He's just old fashioned when it comes to his sisters." Touma paused before changing the subject again, "Did you ever listen to the tapes?"

"Yeah, they were some odd bands, but I still don't know why you sent me a tape about your physics class. The professor was wearisome."

"Yeah he was. I just figured you would think of us over there if you had to hear that class. Speaking of tapes, I have the greatest invention known to man with me. Sony Walkman, thou art thy hero. What music do I have on me?" he was fumbling with the machine.

"Hmm, I heard the compact discs are going to be better."

"Only if you hate recording, and they scratch too easy. I don't know why they've been around so long. Cassettes, my friend, are the way to go." Touma sighed, "I mean, why buy something that's expensive and there are few machines to use the damn thing."

"And I thought you were all for new technology."

"Not the ones that are going to fail." Touma stared at the sky for a bit, "You should come to California with me. You could go to school and play basketball for USC."

"I think I'm too short, and my right arm isn't the same as it was before."

"Baseball?"

"Same problem."

"Ooh, you could play football."

"Football as in American or the one where you actually play with your feet?"

"Both. But I don't know if you would look well in red."

"I don't think sports are my calling." Shin sighed.

"Well you've played soldier, jumped into the ocean from helicopters, been a Samurai, and can do pottery. Sounds like you need something violent, but not to the point of killing."

"And football would be that?"

"Sure, I see you hitting someone hard onto the turf."

"You're crazy. I don't need more violence in my life. I need less. All this fighting nonsense is killing my relationship with my sister."

"Whatever happened to the King who ruled the earth with his arms?"

"I think the King died when he got kicked out of his sister's house like a dog."

They were interrupted by a stomach growl.

"I'm hungry." Shin said.

"Me too, bro." Touma said.

They heard footsteps from behind them.

"What are you two doing?" Seiji asked.

"Watching the clouds and having our girl chat." Touma said.

Shin laughed, "We're just getting our feeling out in a peaceful manner. Would you like to join?"

Seiji sighed with relief, "That sounds wonderful."

The blonde laid in between them with his arms crossed, "So what are we talking about?"

"Touma's having a baby girl." Shin said.

"What? Why did you say so?" Seiji looked over at his now angry friend.

"Because I don't know how to handle baby girls." Touma spoke through his teeth.

"And the brain is actually stumped."

Shin cracked up laughing, which caused Seiji to jump.

"I told you Shin, that he would say that." Touma said, sitting up and yelling.

Seiji let out a small laugh, "You'll be fine Touma." he sighed, "Nasuti's been hinting that she wants one. How the hell are we going to handle a dojo and her travels if we have a kid running around? I can't take care of a baby yet."

"That doesn't seem like much of a problem, Seiji." Touma said, "Just let her come to you. Practice makes perfect you know."

"Touma, I just said I didn't want a child." Seiji's tone got serious.

"And I wish Carla would let me take her to bed." Touma fired back, "Can we trade women?"

"No."

"Fine," Touma sighed, then grinned, "Hey Shin, how's the love life with Yayoi?"

"Uhh,"

"Don't answer that." Seiji interrupted, "I don't want to know what you and my sister may have done. Are you going to quit smoking anytime soon?"

Shin sighed, "I'm going to try to. It's just hard right now."

"I know what he needs." Touma said, "He needs to be thrown into the water. Maybe that will kick something in him."

"They've done that already." Shin sighed.

"It didn't work?"

"Obviously, I still have one in my hand."

Seiji sat up and pinned Shin down, forcing his hand into Shin's pockets. Grabbing the lighter and box, he tossed them towards the hole in the ice.

"There, you're down to one half of one now. Better enjoy it because we're not going into town anytime soon."

Shin laid there shocked. Touma was now laughing like a crazy person. They were interrupted by Ryo and Shu.

"What's going on?" Ryo asked.

"We're having a chat." Seiji said with a rare smile.

"Sounds cool." Ryo said joining them, "So what are we talking about."

"Touma's having a girl; Seiji is having baby problems…" Shin started.

"And Seiji just tossed Shin's cigarettes into the lake. It was freaking funny." Touma finished.

"It was amusing." Seiji corrected.

"There goes five hundred yen into a lake." Shin complained, "Five hundred that I won't be getting back anytime soon."

"Get a job, you bum." Shu teased, "You know, you guys should have removed the snow."

"Nah, the wood wouldn't be any more comfortable." Touma said.

"Any problems that you two have?" Seiji asked.

"Now that you mention it," Shu started, "There's this Korean girl that just moved next door. I was wondering if any of you knew a good way to ask her out."

"Move out of your parents' apartment." Touma replied, "Chicks don't dig guys that live with their parents."

"Hardy har har," Shu said.

"You could lose some weight." Shin added.

"Chicks like teddy bears." Shu yelled.

The other four thought about it before laughing.

"You guys are mean."

"Alright," Ryo said, "How about you simply ask her out to another place to eat?"

"That's silly."

"Silly works." Seiji replied, "Nasuti practically jumped into my arms."

"You two had been flirting with each other for a while though." Touma added.

"You could get her to beg for you to ask her?" Shin said.

"I don't want to hear it Shin."

"Fine."

Touma paused, "I suppose you could accidently spill coffee all over her as she's working, but that would also require a crazy amount of books whick you lack."

"I'll just ask her out." Shu decided.

"This is fun. I miss this." Ryo said.

"It has been a while since we all just spilled our feeling out." Shin added.

"That's because some of us lack feelings." Touma said, referring to Seiji.

"You're a comedian, you know that?" Seiji spoke with sarcasm.

"I think that will be my late night job after school and taking care of a girl."

"You're having a girl?" Ryo asked, "You should have said something."

It was Seiji's turn to laugh, "We all think too much alike."

"Did I say something bad?"

"No Ryo." Touma sighed, "You're just not the first person to say it."

"And we said that before." Shin added.

"Huh." Ryo let out.

"Anything crazy going on with you, besides being attacked by snakes?" Touma asked.

Ryo thought about it, "Not really. I'm just playing football. No girls, no babies, just football and stopping Shin and Touma from ripping each other apart."

"Sorry about that." They both said at the same time.

"Byauken's back, so that means there is something really bad coming up." Ryo continued, "I just what this all to end so we can move on."

"Lame." Shu said after a moment of silence, "That's all you can come up with?"

"Well yeah."

"At least he's not a psycho with family issues." Shin said.

"Or going crazy from his spouse wanting a child all of the sudden." Seiji added.

"Going crazy at all." Touma let out slowly.

"Still though. Nothing?" Shu said.

"Yeah." Ryo answered.

After another moment of silence, Touma spoke, "Okay, I'm now cold and hungry."

Everyone then decided to get up and head inside, until Touma pushed Shin into the lake.

"Enjoy Fish-boy. Tomorrow you get to go back to work as a smoke free Samurai."

Shin growled, as he climbed out of the water. He quickly followed them into the house, giving Touma a wet hug as they walked into the door.


	24. Part 1 Ch 24

**Enjoy.**

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><p>It was early in the morning when Seiji left the bedroom. He was hearing noises from downstairs, so he went to check. He was on his guard for anything. Then the smell hit him. Someone was up early cooking bacon. There were only two people he knew who cooked with bacon, and one of them was in his bed sleeping.<p>

"Shin," he covered his eyes from the bright light, "What are you doing up at six in the morning?"

Shin was standing by the sink, apparently talking to the tiger who laid in the middle of the room.

"I can't sleep."

"Why not? You had a busy day yesterday. Didn't you and Nasuti stay up late talking about what's it's like without the armor?"

"Someone threw my cigarettes into the lake." Shin reminded him, "So I got up to take my mind off of them. Byauken has been keeping me company."

He turned, fiddled with a few things before setting a cup of tea in front of the blonde, "Here."

"Thank you." He said.

"Yeah, it's been awhile. I won't be surprised if it is a bit off."

"It's fine, just a bit stronger than normal."

They both sat in an awkward silence while eating what was cooked. Their silence was broken up by a buzzer. Shin jumped up, to pull out what was in the oven. Seiji leaned back in his chair, taking in the quiet. That too was interrupted by fast moving foot stomps. Shu was seen running down the stairs.

"I wasn't dreaming." He said, "Shin's cooking."

"And there's plenty for you to eat." Seiji said.

Moments later, an angry Ryo came down. He was muttering something about Shu being loud.

"What time is it?"

"Six-fifteen." Seiji answered, "I wouldn't go in there."

"Why not?" Ryo stopped before entering the kitchen.

They heard Shin called out, and then Shu apologize; many times.

"Shin and Shu are in there."

"Right, I'll just wait for Shu to leave." Ryo said, taking a chair.

Shu came out with a couple plates of food, red round marks on his arms and face, and a few muffin crumbs in his hair.

"Those muffins were hot." He said.

"He just pulled them out of the oven." Seiji responded calmly, "You're lucky it was just muffins he threw at you."

"I know. He was reaching for the pot of water when I ran out."

The rest of the warriors soon came down at random times. Seiji was going through the house looking for more chairs, when he stopped in front of Touma's room. His friend was still sleeping. He wasn't sleeping when the window was open letting in the snow and Seiji had flipped the bed mattress. To make it worse, Seiji had grabbed a handful of snow and dropped it all on Touma's face and bare chest.

"I'm up!" he yelled.

"Good; I was about to get the Muffin Warrior to wake you up."

"Shin made muffins? Maybe there's hope for him yet."

"Yes. Now get a shirt on."

The duo met Shin walking up the stairway. He mumbled something about a shower. Touma grinned, which Seiji caught.

"What are you planning?"

"He hasn't worn the Milkball shirt yet."

"What's your plan?" Seiji grinned.

Five minutes into his shower, he heard Jun frantically banging on the door yelling something about being attacked. Not wanting to miss the fight, he turned the water off and wrapped one of the towels around him.

"Here, put this on. Hurry up Shin!" Jun said tossing him a shirt as he left the room.

Not looking at it, he started to put it on until he noticed the yellow color.

"What the hell? Are you trying to get me into the Milkball shirt?"

Jun gave him a grin, watching Touma and Seiji sneak from a bedroom into the bathroom and back out again.

"No." he lied, "I just grabbed something when I heard the noise from outside."

Shin gave the boy a look before heading back to the bathroom.

"Hey Shin, need that?" Touma came out, grabbing the towel around Shin's waist.

"Touma!" Shin screamed, covering himself up with the shirt, "Naked."

"Stop being a pervert Shin." Seiji said, following Touma, "There are women about."

Peeking into the bathroom, Shin noticed his other clothes and the returned armor orb were missing. Left was a pink speedo.

"You guys are mean." Shin yelled down the staircase.

"Wear it Shin." Touma was heard.

"I'd rather stay naked."

Shin heard a cough from behind him. Turning slowly, it came from a smiling Kayura.

"Nice butt, Fish-boy." She teased, "It's nice, tanned and round. The African sun did it well."

"Ugh," Shin stood there, red as Rekka, "I'm going now."

Touma and Seiji high-fived as they heard the bathroom door slam shut. Everyone else was still at the table, laughing. Nasuti shook her head in disbelief.

"You all never grow up."

"It was his turn." Touma said, "And the speedo made it better."

"We were nicer though." Ryo added, "We didn't give you pink a speedo and Kayura didn't walk up behind you."

"We saved the best for last. And I still haven't received my clothes back from Shu's brother."

"May I ask why you have a pink speedo?" Naaza asked.

Rajura sighed, "Do you want to know?"

Touma blushed, "No, you'd rather not want to know why I have one."

Shin soon came down after struggling to get his bedroom door open. He was a bit angry about not being able to actually get the door to open, and decided that the others would pay for leaving him with the Milkball shirt and a speedo. He started walking down the staircase, when Nasuti let out a breath of surprise. Her hand instantly covered Jun's eyes.

"Shin!"

"What? I'm going for a swim." He had a small grin as he was still embarrassed about walking out with the pink speedo.

"Here!" Touma yelled, tossing Suiko back to its owner.

"Thank you."

They heard the front door shut, before everyone laughed.

"That backfired." Seiji said.

"Yeah. I didn't think he'd just walk out." Touma added.

Shu sighed, "Was anyone else a little disturbed?"

"A little?" Naaza asked, "How about I never want to see anyone in one of that atrocious bit of swimming gear again."

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>Standing on the dock, Shin shivered as he was looking at the orb. Byauken was standing next to him.<p>

"I'm never walking out in a speedo in December again." He told the large cat.

He thought he could hear the cat laugh at him.

Ignoring the cold, he tried to put the armor on. Expecting to fly across the lake, he had embraced himself by the dock on the ice. Opening his eyes, he noticed that he hadn't flown anywhere. The armor's effects were instant. He could feel that all the bad memories from before were slightly blocked, and his nicotine addiction was lessened.

Everyone inside ran out when they heard some sort of explosion. Running towards the lake, they noticed the ice was gone except for what particles hung around in the air. They were all in their under armor. The tiger was lying near the dock cleaning his paws.

"Shin?" Shu called out.

Touma was standing on the deck, trying to figure out what had happened.

"He was here. His footprints are fresh still."

"I wouldn't stand on the dock if I were you." Naaza grinned, watching the four troopers stand on the dock.

"Why no-" Ryo couldn't finish his sentence as a wave of water pushed the four into the water.

Coughing the water out, Touma saw that the warrior of water was now in front of him.

"Mean." He said, before getting a face full of water, "Ugh, do you know how many germs are in the human mouth."

"Enough for you to have to ask me that."

"Okay, I'm getting out now." Touma said.

"What? The water's nice."

"It was covered in ice. It's not nice, it's freaking cold!"

Shin grinned, "So you won't push me into the water again? Or make me wear this speedo ever again?"

"Yes! Just let me get out."

Touma turned to swim back towards the shore before feeling a wave crash over him.

"Shin!"

"What? My hands are holding my trident."

Touma turned again, and again was pushed by a wave.

After a quick match in the water, the eight warriors were preparing to enter the Demon World to get their plan started. Touma spent a few minutes calling back to California. Although it wasn't as comforting as he hoped, he could tell it was better than nothing. As he was hanging up, he felt the large house shake. Running out the door, he saw the rest of the warriors engaged with several giant snakes. Soon Tenku found himself on the ground with the warrior of illusion on top of him.

"Hey man," Touma started, "You're not helping me by laying on me."

"Can it. Talking is not going to help us win this."

* * *

><p>The warriors knew they were losing after seeing Anubisu and Shu were swallowed by the snakes. Seiji was having a hard time catching his breath when suddenly he was thrown back into the red jeep. He moaned, watching the warrior of fire step in front of him. Ryo was now in between the down warrior and a snake. That was shortly ended when Ryo was tossed aside. Now focusing on Rekka, the snake charged. Ryo covered his face waiting for the end. When it didn't happen, he looked up seeing Naaza killing the demon. The warrior of venom was about to say something until he keeled over in pain. He had not noticed his evil younger brother coming up behind him.<p>

"Your armor is mine." Masafumi laughed, taking it from him, "I'll see you Rekka in my new realm. You and your friends better not be late. I have quite the deal to make."

Slamming his swords down, Ryo let out a yell, "Get back here you coward!"

* * *

><p>"Yuck, I hate snakes." Shu said after being cut out of one.<p>

"They hate you too, buddy." Shin responded.

"What's got Ryo in a bunch?"

Shin sighed, "Naaza's dead. He was killed saving Ryo."

"What?" Shu said loudly, "Urrgh, this guy needs a beat down and soon."

"I agree. Seiji, Touma and Rajura are trying to come up with a new plan. They should be back soon."

"Fuck that; let's just get him."

"Easy there." Shin laughed, "You were just eaten by a snake."

"Now that you mention it, I could eat something."

"Atta boy. Help me get Anubisu out of a snake and we'll go eat."


	25. Part 1 Ch 25

**Here's the next one. Enjoy.**

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><p>"So now what?"<p>

It was the question on everyone's mind; just Shu was the first one to vocalize it.

"He's expecting us to come and listen to a deal." Ryo said, "I don't think it'll be one we like."

"Of course it isn't." Rajura spoke, holding his disappointment of the day, "It's going to be one he wants and we'll suffer the consequences."

"So we should just go get him." Anubisu said, not holding his anger back, "He's toyed with us long enough."

"We don't know what he can do with the armor of Venom." Seiji spoke softer.

"Nothing has changed." The warrior of darkness said, slamming his fist onto the table, "It's not like the new armors. It's the same one from Arago. We know what power to expect of it. That's why we need to go get him before he learns everything."

"I agree." Shu said. Ryo also nodded his head.

"Charging into his part of the Demon World isn't wise though." Rajura argued back, "Like what has been said before, the land itself can harm us."

"So we burn everything in our path." Anubisu said, "Rekka's good about that."

"Yeah because that sounds like a logical, thought out plan." Touma coughed.

"Do you have anything better?"

"Guys," Ryo sighed, "Shin, Kayura; you've both been quiet."

Shin sighed, "I agree with Shu and Anubisu. I've had a personal vendetta against him for a year now since the helicopter incident. He's caused me enough pain. We need to go soon."

"'In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.'"

Touma gave Seiji a blank stare, "Did you really just quote the man who founded the scientific method?"

"Yes," Seiji didn't smile, "I did, and it would be wise if some of us took it to heart. We all want to stop him, but it should not be because of what he's done to us personally but because of duty."

Kayura sat quietly. She didn't have any knowledge about Masafumi. It was clear to her that he knew how to enter the Human World and quickly escape back into the Demon World. He also knew how to attack when they were not expecting him.

"We must go, assuming he wants us to listen and that means all of us. We all know it will be a trap." She finally spoke, "It won't be easy. Our emotions are running wild, and we will be on his ground. But it is our job to go and try to stop him."

"I still don't like it." Seiji said.

"Sometimes being too careful means nothing will be done." Kayura sighed, "But we must be mentally ready to go."

"I'm ready." Ryo said, "Let's get this done."

"I'm ready to bash a few skulls in." Shu added.

The remaining Masho nodded their heads in agreement, while Seiji let out a grunt.

"I didn't fly twelve hours to sit here." Touma said with a grin.

"Shin?" Kayura said, awaiting his answer.

"Yeah, let's go."

"We'll meet outside then." She said.

Watching everyone walk out, she turned to the warrior of water.

"Shin, what's on your mind?"

"It's nothing."

He watched her face change as he lied, "Is it really nothing?"

"Yes."

"Revenge is a normal emotion you know, although, I wasn't expecting it to come from you."

"That's nothing new."

"Come on Shin," she took to a lighter tone, "If where we're going is where I think it is, you'll enjoy it."

"I thought the land was deadly?"

"It is, but you'll see when we get there. When all of this is done, I'll give you time to enjoy it. Trust me."

"I trust you."

"Come on slow pokes!" the heard Shu from outside.

After taking longer to bring everyone into the Demon World, Touma stopped to look at the place. The gears in his brain were starting.

"It looks the same." Seiji said softly, "Like a few years didn't even pass."

"Yeah." Ryo added, staring at the place.

"I'll bring horses out. We'll get there faster." Kayura said.

"Hey Seiji," Touma was rubbing his chin, "Have you ever been to one of those Warring State Period reenactments?"

"A few times. Why?"

"Because I want to reenact a large battle using the Youja." Touma smiled.

"We don't have time for you to start these little projects of yours." Seiji sighed.

There was a moment of silence.

Rajura broke it up when he laughed, "I understand your plan."

"Phew, I'm glad someone picked up on it."

"Attack him with the Youja." Ryo joined Rajura's laughter, "Touma, you're a genius."

"So I've heard. How long will it take to get everything together?"

"Minutes." Anubisu said.

"Good. We'll bring them. Rajura can 'hide' them and then when the trap pops open, we'll have our own trick."

"You think it will work?" Seiji asked.

"If it doesn't, we still have thousands of spirit soldiers to attack with." Touma's smile kept getting larger, "It can be our Sekigahara."

"Or we can just pretend that we're fighting snake-men." Shin quickly said. Ryo nodded.

"Oh yeah, clans from the losing side. There goes my plan." Touma sighed.

Seiji laughed, "They don't understand what happens when a Date and a Hashiba work together."

"I don't get it." Shu said.

"Don't worry about it Shu. It's nothing important." Shin said.

* * *

><p>After spending an hour listening to Touma narrate their march to the battlefield, Shin stopped to grab a couple of flowers to stuff in his ears. It didn't help that Seiji egged him on with information. Anubisu and Kayura were silently laughing at Touma's version of 'leading the men' to the fight. Ryo and Shu were in the rear, talking quietly. Byauken was by Ryo's side. Known to them, Rajura's hidden army was right behind them all, quietly following as planned.<p>

Kayura said something about heading in the right direction when they hit dry solid land. Shin didn't hear what Ryo said next, because of his new earplugs, but he guessed it had something to do with the strange bluish trees. Minutes later he saw what he assumed Kayura talked about before. Being surrounded by purplish palm trees was a crystal clear lake.

"Wow, that's some still water." Touma said, seeing that nothing was disturbing it, "It's so clear."

"Is this the place?" Shin asked Kayura.

"It is." She smiled, "I thought you'd enjoy it."

It didn't take long until Shin jumped into the water.

"There's something calming about it." He said after floating on the surface, "I could stay here forever."

"We have a crazy man with the armor of venom running around, remember." Ryo reminded him.

"I do." He sighed, then stopped noticing a dark spot in the water, "Hey, there's something over there."

"Well don't swim to it." Touma said, not that the warrior of water took the advice.

After diving to check it out, Shin came back up, "It's a cave. It looks like it runs pretty deep."

"And we're swimming into cave entrances again." Shu sighed.

"Hopefully this one doesn't have Hero Statues." Ryo added.

"I was going to let Fish-boy check it out. No need to follow him yet." Anubisu said.

Then they heard the tiger growl.

* * *

><p>Following the cave, Shin realized that it was really deep into the ground. He had to call Suiko on to continue which made it harder to navigate the small areas he was getting into. By the end of the tunnel, he had taken the armor off. Catching his breath, he noticed a man sitting in front of him. Shin's eyes grew large.<p>

"You're supposed to be in prison." He said in English.

"Surprised to see me?" the Irishman said with a grin, "One thing about working with Masafumi is that he doesn't leave his fellow snakes behind to rot in a human prison. He's a good lad."

"You were going to shoot me in the head. Why didn't you?"

"Oh I was. Your damn armor wouldn't let me, but I left my mark on you. You're a lucky one too. I heard the other guy died." He smiled.

"This is a trap isn't it?" Shin said, hearing a loud noise from above.

"No, your friends are in a middle of a trap. You and I have some unfinished business to take care of." The sounds of a hammer being pulled back filled the cave.

Being aware of it this time, Shin was able to take cover to call his armor back. He then leaped over the cover with his trident ready to take the man out. Seeing the armor, the Irishman threw his gun, hitting Shin in the head and started running in the opposite direction. It was futile as Shin ran faster, and knocked him into the ground.

"You should have kept the gun." Shin growled, hitting him once in the face before throwing him into the water filled tunnel.

The sounds of fighting were getting louder. Shin knew he had to get back up there quickly. Bringing the faceplate together, he pointed his weapon towards the roof and blasted it with water. The tunnel was quickly filled with water, letting Shin swim up. He soon noticed that the Youja were not hidden. It was definitely the trap they were expecting. It was like watching a terribly written movie filled with samurai, ninjas, and snakes. If it wasn't for the fact his friends were getting beaten up, he'd laugh.

He was getting out of the hole when Shu was thrown into him. The both heard a loud crack. Realizing that it wasn't from either of them, but the wooden they hit, they helped each other up.

"Yo Shin, you got hit bad." Shu said looking at the cut above Shin's left eyebrow.

"You too. Your cheek's bleeding."

"Nothing a little dirt won't help with." Shu smiled, "Careful around the tree roots. They like throwing things."

"Got it." Shin said, wiping his eyebrow.

Soon Touma was thrown at their feet.

"Is the party here?" he mumbled.

"No, you flew a bit much." Shin laughed.

"Remind me to never take Tree Root Airlines again."

"Is Masafumi here?" Shin asked.

"Yeah, he and Ryo are near the lake at the moment." Touma responded, "The others are busy fighting snakes and ninjas in the forest."

"So we go to Ryo?" Shin hinted.

"Yeah, or he'll come to us." Touma said, before the warrior of fire landed in the water.

Bringing their weapons up, the trio saw Masafumi in the armor of venom charge them.

"Shin, grab Ryo." Touma yelled.

Nodding, the warrior of water dove into the lake to grab their unconscious leader. Feeling his ankle jerk back, Shin's chin caught a tree root.

"This fish isn't getting into the water." Masafumi said with a laugh.

Notching an arrow, Touma aimed it towards the enemy.

"Dude, he has Shin in his hands."

"Yes, we are going to play the hostage game." The new bearer of venom said, "And I'll make it more interesting."

He brought a sword up to the cut on Suiko's face. Looking at the weapon with his clear eye, Shin could see the poison roll to the tip. Not knowing what else to go, he started blowing the poison away from him. Seeing that the poison wasn't going away, he looked towards the water. Ryo was watching from the water, waiting for the right moment.

"Touma, shoot." Shin let out.

"Did he say shoot?" Shu asked.

"I think he did."

Masafumi laughed, "You three are funny. I could use comedians to entertain me when I take the Demon World over."

Touma's arrow started to gain power.

"Are you really going to?" Shu asked worried.

"Yep."

Taking the chance, Ryo jumped up with his swords. At the same time, Touma was about to let go until Shu used his spear to force the arrow into the sky.

"No!" Touma screamed watching the arrow fly into the sky.

Masafumi's hold on Shin loosened as Ryo got closer, allowing Shin to move, but not stop the sword going towards Ryo. The warrior of fire caught the blade in the chest.

"Aw shit." Shu let out.

Trying to counter, Shin went for the kill, bringing his trident into the armor. Letting out a yell, Masafumi elbowed Shin in the face. Then the sword in Masafumi's right hand went into the warrior's torso. Watching both of their friends fall, Shu started twisting his spear. Masafumi was struggling to stand, knowing that his time was also to end.

"Shu, you'll-" Touma's call of concern fell on deaf ears by Shu's power attack.

Touma instead dove into the hole that Shin created.

* * *

><p>Hearing tons of earth moving, Seiji looked back towards where the lake was. The three Masho gave him a look of concern.<p>

"Go," Kayura said, "We'll be fine here."

Seiji nodded. Byauken took off as soon as Korin got on. As he came to the edge of the lake, he saw Shu on his knees. Touma was seen trying to stop bleeding on Ryo's chest.

"What happened?" Seiji asked.

"I killed them both." Shu let out, "How was I so stupid?"

Touma stopped to wipe his brow, "Seiji, they're both gone."

"Where's Masafumi?"

"In the bottom of this crater somewhere with Shin." Touma answered softly.

"Dude, I fucked this one up badly." Shu said, "I thought you were going to blow Shin and Masafumi up at the same time. I didn't even see Ryo come up."

"Shu," Seiji said, putting a hand onto Shu's shoulder, "It's going to be fine."

"No man, I got them both killed."

The blonde sighed, and looked to Touma for the answer. Touma's face indeed gave him the grave news about their friends. Looking into the water filled crater, Seiji ran down into it. It took a moment to look for what he needed, but he came up with Suiko's body. Taking the sword out, he turned.

"What are you doing?" Touma asked.

"Nasuti said that the armor of venom can be used to heal. It's supposed to be better than Korin's."

"They're dead. You can't heal them."

"Shut up, Touma."

Seiji kneeled by Ryo first. He tried to focus on the sword's power.

"Come on, give me something." Nothing happened, "Fuck."

"Now what?" Shu asked.

"Nothing. I can't do anything." Seiji sighed in defeat, throwing the sword into the water, "Dammit."

The three Masho came to the scene slowly. They didn't have to ask to know what had happened.


	26. Part 1 Ch 26

**Here's the next one. I don't own Monty Python by the way. I just enjoy watching it. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Looking around, Ryo sighed.<p>

"We're dead, aren't we?" Ryo asked, seeing that he and Shin were in a foggy graveyard.

"Yep. I had a feeling that Shu would be the death of me." Shin smirked, "At least in death, we're provided a deck of cards and each other, and strangely, I'm at peace with it."

Ryo put his hand into his pants' pocket, "Hey, you're correct about the cards."

They stood in silence before Ryo spoke again.

"Who was first to go?"

"I was. Direct hit from Shu but I took Masafumi with me." Shin sighed, now leaning on his assumed gravestone, "This is what Suzunagi showed us isn't it?"

"Looks like it." Ryo said, looking around, "So now what?"

"Wanna play a card game?"

"You'll have to teach me something."

"That's fine. We have plenty of time."

* * *

><p>Sitting at the table in Nasuti's house, everyone was trying to cope with what happened an hour ago. Seiji was tapping the table with his fingers. Shu sat in a corner with his head in his hand. Touma was banging his head against the table. Not saying anything, Nasuti brought a pot of tea out to them. She tried to not spill it all on Touma as Seiji slammed his hands on the table.<p>

"I should have been there with you guys." Seiji said.

"You were busy helping the others. You didn't know." Touma spoke in a soft tone.

"Still, nothing good ever happens when the five of us are split."

"I'm heading home guys." Shu said, "I'll be at the restaurant if anyone needs me."

"Are you going to be alright?" Touma asked.

"Yeah, I just need some alone time."

Touma sighed after the front door shut, "So what do we do about Rekka and Suiko?"

"Suiko needs to go to Hagi. Rekka, well, I don't know." Seiji said, "I'll take care of the armors. You have family to go home to."

"And leave you the burden of taking care of our friends?" Touma raised an eyebrow, "I think not."

"Okay, but you have to deal with Sayoko then." Seiji said, "I can't talk to crying women."

"I'll tell her." Nasuti sighed, "You two sometimes."

"Women cry, and then we feel bad." Touma said, "I'll call the football team and let them know that Ryo isn't going to be playing."

"Oh no," Seiji let out, "That's going to be all over the news."

"Yeah, that one is going to be a headache." Touma sighed.

* * *

><p>"Do you have a pair of twos?"<p>

"Go fish."

Ryo threw his cards down, as he barely had any pairs to Shin's seven pairs, "This game is dumb. Do you really not have any of those cards?"

Shin laughed, "You wanted an easy game to learn and yes, I didn't have a two, a four and a king."

"It's too easy for you."

"We can go back to crazy eights."

"No, teach me something else."

"The two of you should learn to be quiet and let the graveyard sleep in peace." They heard.

Turning, there was a man dressed in red. On his clothing was the Rekka symbol.

"You used to wear the armor." Ryo said.

"Yes, this is the graveyard with the previous owners who try to spend the rest of eternity with peace."

"What are we supposed to be doing here?"

"Anything that take your spiritual mind off of death. Most of us sleep." His tone was not one of joy.

"We'll move then." Shin said, grabbing Ryo's shirt.

They headed towards a single cherry blossom tree in the middle of the yard. There was a table beneath the tree with a single person sitting there. It didn't take long for the two of them to realize that it was Fionnuala waiting for them.

"I thought that it was the two of you I brought here."

"Death kinda rained down on us in the form of rocks." Ryo tried to joke.

"Sad. You two had a lot to look forward to."

"Is there a way we can get back?"

Fionnuala's sad smile turned into a frown, "There is, but I'm not sure that the Lord of Death will grant you permission to leave."

"We have to deal with Donn?" Shin gave Ryo a look, "We are not on his good side."

"Yeah, but we have people depending on us to be there." Ryo responded, "We still have things to do."

"I can bring you there." She said, cheerfully, "That is, if you want?"

"Of course. Shin?"

"Yeah, let's go."

She led them out of one graveyard and into a larger one. She explained that this one was where most people went. Both of the warriors noticed that there were people of all ages, chatting away with each other. Occasionally, one would look up at them and then continue what they were doing. A couple of people with smiles waved. Shin would wave back.

"Is everyone that friendly here?" Shin asked.

"What else is there to be? Anger is useless here."

They stopped in front of a stone building. The stone door was similar to the one off the coast of Ireland.

"So this is it then?" Ryo said, "Another hallway of statues?"

"Yes, and it has gotten longer since the last time you entered the hall." Fionnuala said.

"Creepy." Shin said, "I don't suppose we can find family before we go in."

"Take what time you need." She said, "When you're done, I'll be here to open the doors, but I can't go with you. You both need to do it on your own."

Ryo nodded, "Are you going to look for your mother?"

"Yes."

Turning to the crowd, Shin knew there were a lot of people to go through. Ryo had already gone in one direction, so he took another. It didn't take long until he saw someone wave and call his name. Looking at the man, he realized it was the flight engineer he had tried to save.

"Yo, you bit it too?" the man asked.

"Not at the same time you did." Shin frowned, "I tried."

"No worries."

"You're not mad?"

"At first I was, but then I realized how dumb it was to blame you. Whatever happened to the shooter?"

"I threw him."

"Off the helicopter?"

"No, I ran into him again, and tossed him into a cave. It's a long story."

"We have the time."

"Maybe another time; I'm looking for someone."

"Alright. Later then."

Continuing his search, he started to follow a stream that ran through. Something was telling him that she would be near. The stream continued until it became a small pond. There was a bridge that stood before the pond. On it was two people. One was his mother and the other was someone he thought he recognized. When his mother looked up, he saw her smile turn into a frown. The man looked like he was about to leave until his mother grabbed his hand.

"Shin," he heard her say as he walked closer, "What happened now? It wasn't because of smoking was it?"

Shin laughed, "No mother, it wasn't."

"It was the armor stuff then?"

"Yes. It was a miscommunication between Shu and I and I paid the price of it." He watched her start to cry, "Oh don't cry mom."

"Sorry, I just can't believe that after everything that happened this year that you would be killed by sweet, friendly Shu."

"It wasn't completely his fault." Shin said, then looked at the man next to her, "Who's this?"

"You don't remember from the pictures."

The man cleared his throat, "I won't let the boy strain his mind. I'm Sayoko's father."

"Oh no." he heard his mother say.

"What?" Shin put a smile on his face, "You must be messing with me. You mean our father?"

"You didn't tell him." The man's tone was serious.

"No. I couldn't tell my sweet little Shin about everything."

Shin's smile went away, "There's more, isn't there? He's not my father?"

"Yes." His mother sighed, "We had a few relationship problems before you were born."

"So who is the man that's really my father then?"

"You might remember him." His mother paused to remember the man's name, "Pierre Blanc's his name."

"The French business man who would always buy the plate sets and bring us candy?" Shin's eyes grew wide, "Mom, that's something to tell your kids. Does Sayoko know?"

"She does, but you were such a sweet little boy. I couldn't break your heart about the truth, and it's not a big deal anymore. It's not like you're alive."

"But that's something I should have known!" Shin slapped his forehead, "I came to say 'hi' and 'goodbye' because Ryo and I are about to try and become un-dead."

"Oh dear."

Shin breathed in, and let it out to calm himself, "It's alright. I'll be fine. It just explains a few things. Wait, does Touma know this?"

"Touma is a very smart man. It certainly didn't take him long when he was looking at pictures."

Shin mumbled a few choice words that were uncommon for him.

"So how is Sayoko?" his mother asked trying to change the awkward conversation.

"Last time I knew, she was stressing about the shop and I." He sighed, "But, the shop looks better than before."

"That's good." She turned to the other man, "You're family's shop is still running, although we moved to Yamaguchi."

"I assume my family didn't give you all grief about it."

"Oh, they did." She said, "But they settled down after seeing how much more space we had."

Shin interrupted them to let them know he was leaving. Although it was nice seeing her again, Shin left confused and betrayed. Mostly confused, as why he started to understand why things were kept, he wondered why no one else told him.

"So, how was it?" Ryo asked after finding him.

"I'm confused."

"Oh, what happened?"

Giving him a quick rundown, Ryo shook his head, "That's so messed up in every way."

"Yep."

"So I found Luna again. She was glad to see me. And even though I didn't really know her, my mother said 'hi'" Ryo smiled and then frowned, "I hate this place."

"I do too."

* * *

><p>The hall after entering the doors was very much like before, except that the duo could see statues of themselves. After comparing them and deciding that the stone was too lifelike, they started down. The walk down was quiet, as neither of the two knew what was going to happen. Walking into a giant room with similar doors on the opposite side of the room, they stopped in the center. A part of them were waiting for an attack like before, but instead the large doors opened. A booming voice was heard from inside the doors.<p>

"So, you come here looking to become alive again."

Walking into the doors, they saw a cloaked man. His skin was dark, and his short beard was white. He sat on a throne, leaning on a scythe.

"And please," he laughed, "Why should I let two of the warriors who stopped me from entering the living world return? This will be amusing."

Both stared at each other before Ryo spoke, "Because we're needed to protect the world from evil."

The man laughed, "That is what I thought you would say, and it is sad because it's not good enough for me."

"Then what do you want to hear?" Ryo's temper was beginning to flare.

"Boy, I am the Lord of Death; Donn, Hades, the Grimm Reaper, Freyja, Azreal, Anubis." He spoke, "Death entertains me and yours was quite amusing. You tried to kill a man holding a friend hostage and another friend was so blind to what was going on that he doomed the two of you to me."

"It was a mistake." Shin said calmly, "He must have thought that he was protecting us."

"Ah, Shin Mori. You are an interesting boy, you know." Donn turned to him, making Shin feel small, "I am going to describe a situation and I want you to tell me who is correct. Several men in some sort of uniform come to your village saying that they are protecting others, but because you feel threatened you decided to fight and those in uniform react by ending your life. Who is correct?"

Ryo could see that Shin went pale.

"That's not a fair comparison." Shin mumbled.

"Maybe because you at one point were the man in uniform. Now tell me why I should let you reenter the living world when that poor boy, which he was only protecting his siblings, should stay here and suffer? And why should I let the two of you go if you attacked a man who was protecting himself?"

"Masafumi was the bad guy." Ryo yelled.

"Was he? He simply wanted his brother's armor to take the Demon World."

"He attacked us."

"You attacked then him." They hear Donn let out a sigh, "We can go on for all eternity, and the two of you have not given me anything that's different than anyone else who can come here."

"So you are not going to bring us back then?" Shin asked.

"Not unless you can prove something for me. I will forget about what you have done to me in the past. A clear slate." He then let out a laugh, "I want you both to condemn an innocent soul to an unbearable afterlife. They must be unwilling to give their soul up or I will not let you return. For if you want to return to help, you must also know what it is like to send one to suffer. Bring one soul here and I shall consider you both worthy of the lesson of death. Now leave."

After leaving the room, Ryo turned to a wall, hitting it hard and letting out a yell.

"That's so unfair!"

Shin leaned against the wall. He didn't speak.

"You're not going to agree with me?"

"It's not that I don't agree with you. I'm wondering if it is really worth it." Shin sighed, "The people here seem happy. I'd hate to send one to a living hell."

"So we stay?"

"I don't know Ryo. I can't decide."

"You've killed people before. It should be easy for you to condemn someone."

"It's different. The people I've ended were trying to kill me, but most of the people here I've never known, and I probably won't." Shin's tone became heated, "It is two different things."

"Is it though?"

"Now you're starting to sound like him." Shin straighten up.

"But he's asking you to do the same thing as you've done before."

"It's not the same thing!" Shin yelled, "You would have done the same thing I did if our spots were switched. And now you're afraid to commit a wrong so you're trying to put it on me. Yes, my hands are stained, and yes, I want to go see my sister, and friends too, but I'm not someone who will easily pick greed over happiness. I would rather stay here."

Ryo sighed, "I'm sorry. I was foolish to push it all on you."

He felt Shin's hands on his shoulders, "We all have had moments of greed. We're only human. Come on, let's leave here and try to enjoy the afterlife. I think I still have a few card games to teach you."

"I'll pass on the card games for now."

As they reached the other side of the room, both exits slammed shut. The warriors stood back to back, wondering what was about to happen. Donn appeared before Ryo.

"I change my mind. I was reminded that although you are here, the two of you along with your friends tend to have death follow you where ever you go. And some of the other deities disagree with me that you have no purpose left to serve. So after thinking, I will allow you two to go, but when your time comes around again, I expect to see your smiling faces down here again. The dead need to be guided."

"So we're condemned to work for you?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, you both will be able to finish your lives and will work for me when you're done with them. It's only for a couple centuries. A fair trade I do believe."

"Just guiding souls?" Shin asked to make sure.

"Yes. Or you can stay dead. Your choice."

"I hope we're not selling our souls to the devil." Ryo sighed.

"I for one am not the devil. I just provide a lovely place for the dead and I like to fill it. When it comes to the unbearable afterlife, he does it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke. It's true."

Shin laughed, "Apparently you watch Monty Python as well."

"I do. Besides enjoying death, I like comedy, bad Western movies and romance novels." Donn said, "Now leave. I expect to see you two in sixty or so years."

"Shin, are we doing this?"

"Why not? It's only for two centuries."

"Then I'll write that rain check. Enjoy your lives. They are about to become painful. Very painful"

Besides the bright light, they could hear Donn's laughter. As the light lessened, pain filled their bodies. Looking around, they could see that they were in the Demon World. A couple of Youja jumped from surprise and ran off. Kayura soon appeared, wondering why she was being dragged into the cellars.

"Ryo? Shin?"

"I feel like the earth crashed on me." Ryo let out.

"My nose is broken." Shin said.

Rajura and Anubisu soon ran in to help cover any wounds. Giving Ryo a look, Shin laughed. The warrior of fire soon joined in, ignoring the pain.


	27. Part 1 Ch 27

**Here's the next one. I don't own the song lyrics that are in it. It's also the end of part one. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>With the radio low, the rental car continued towards Yamaguchi. Seiji had just finished his fourth cup of coffee as Nasuti and Touma were passed out in the back. He didn't have to heart to wake either one. It was well past midnight on New Year's Day and they were heading west to inform Shin's sister. It had been a couple of days since the fight and the snow stopped.<p>

"Where are we?" Touma was heard.

"Nayoga."

"You drove that far? How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours."

"Are you drinking coffee?"

"It's my fourth cup."

"Holy Batman's underwear, the world's ending."

"I didn't want to wake either of you."

"That's okay then. I'll just cuddle next to your wife. She's warm and…"

"Stop Touma. Please."

"Right, no fun around Seiji."

"I never said that."

"No, but I had to drink bubbly apple juice instead of beer because you didn't want to go out. What a perfect way to start nineteen-ninety-four."

"We'll party when you have your wedding."

Touma snorted, "That's never going to happen."

Another hour went by. Seiji pulled over as the coffee hit him too hard. The replay of his conversation with Yayoi went through his head. Although he didn't want to tell her over the phone, she made him after he sounded like a wreck. Seiji had to give the phone to Nasuti as his sister started to cry a storm in his ear. He thought that telling the professional football team in Tokyo would be easier as there would be less tears. Seiji sighed. He and Touma still hadn't thought about a story to explain why their friends were 'missing.' And neither had any clue on how to find Ryo's father.

"Death better be a damn game of cards, simple and fun." Seiji told himself, after readjusting his shirt.

"Hey, the car isn't going to drive itself."

"And Touma's next." He growled, "You drive. I'm shaking from all the caffeine."

"Okie dokie." Touma said, jumping in the front.

Climbing in back, Seiji took advantage of the front seat being empty. He leaned back enough to stretch his legs into the front, which to Touma's amusement, decided to buckle the seat belt.

"So you feet don't fly away."

Seiji grunted. The car silent for minutes. Seiji slowly felt himself drift into sleep.

When he woke, the seat in front of him was shaking. As his ears and eyes started working better, he noticed that Touma was bouncing around in the driver's seat singing along with whatever was on the radio. He was also hitting the steering wheel hard.

"I smoked to joints before I smoke two joints and then I smoked some more."

"Touma, what the hell are you listening to?"

Touma laughed, "Sublime. This is a great tape. Carla bought it for my birthday."

Sitting up more, he noticed that Nasuti was trying to hide her guilt of dancing along.

"What did you eat?"

"Pixie sticks, a snickers bar, and a Coke." Touma smiled, "We're one hour from Yamaguchi and I'm all hyped up on sugar."

Seiji then noticed the sun was up. Touma must have sped most of the way for them to be outside of Yamaguchi.

"Do you have any music that doesn't mention drugs?"

"No fun, I forgot again." Touma said, "Nasuti, please put that tape in for Seiji."

"Denis Leary?"

"Yes."

Seiji gave Touma a look after the first song started.

"That's not any better."

"While handicapped people make handicapped faces." Touma purposely sang loud.

"Touma!" Seiji yelled, "Can you just turn the radio on?"

"Oh Seiji, he's just having fun."

"Yeah Seiji. I'm just having fun."

Seeing two sets of blue eyes pleading to listen to what Touma wanted, Seiji caved in, but on one condition.

"Touma, watch the road!"

"Right." He turned.

* * *

><p>Standing outside the Mori residence, Seiji was clearing his head before having to go brake the news. Touma was spitting water out as a substitute for cleaning his teeth and breath, as Nasuti fixed her hair.<p>

"Ready?" Seiji asked.

His two friends nodded. Taking the lead, Seiji headed towards the door and knocked. He heard some shuffling, before Sayoko opened the door.

"Hold on, I'll put him on." Sayoko gave Seiji a look, "It's for you? I wasn't aware you were coming."

"Hello?" Seiji asked.

"Seiji, don't leave the house."

"Shin? Aren't you supposed to be dead?... Yeah we just showed up to tell her that you died."

"What the hell is going on?" Touma asked from behind.

Sayoko only shrugged her shoulders. She let everyone in and waited for someone to explain.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see you and Ryo in a bit." Seiji then hung up the phone.

"This is going to be fun." Touma said with a grin, "They need to explain this one."

"What's going on?" Sayoko asked.

"Well, dear sister," Touma said, sitting next to her on the sofa, and putting an arm around her, "We came to tell you that your little brother died for the sake of humanity in an honorable but gory death."

"Shin died?"

"Two days ago." Touma continued with an awkward smile, "He was cut, stabbed and then beaten with stone. It was horrible. I had nightmares the first night and I got silly on bubbly apple juice last night to fall asleep until we got into the car."

"Shin was dead two days ago and you didn't call?"

Seiji sighed, "Yes, I thought it would have been better to come to you. Yayoi was in tears when I called her."

"I bet." Sayoko said, not sure on how to take it all, "So this day is officially weird. Let me go get Ryuusuke."

After she left the room Touma busted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Seiji asked.

"It's so illogical that it somehow makes sense that those two would find a way back. This is a great topic for one of my classes."

It was a few hours before Ryo and Shin showed up. They first grabbed Shu, who had cried his eyes out after seeing them, and apologized for everything, even after hugging Shin too tight. After getting settled in, they began telling their odd story.

After Kayura found them, she immediately had spirits called to heal. Ryo's wounds were faster to heal, although he still felt pain in his chest. There were laughs about the deck of cards and the statues, and some disappointment about Donn.

"So you two sold your souls to the devil?" Seiji asked.

"He's not the devil. He made sure to let us know that." Ryo answered with a grin.

* * *

><p>Nearing midnight, everyone but the siblings, were passed out around the house. Shin was playing with a fully awake Taro, who would not go to sleep, at the kitchen table. Sayoko was watching the two of them. She knew that her little brother knew the secret, but neither said anything about it. She tried, but Shin stopped her. He assured her that nothing changed about their relationship.<p>

"Shin, I have something for you." Sayoko said, getting up, "Mom was the one to get everything together after you left for Somalia."

When she walked in, Taro had stuck his whole hand in Shin mouth. They both looked at her with shock and surprise before Taro laughed.

"Uncle Shin eated hand."

"He phut id in dere." Shin tried to say.

She smiled as she tossed the package on the table. Shin tried to reach for it, but Taro grabbed it first with his wet hand.

"Application for a school?" Shin said looking through it all.

"Not just any school, a culinary art school in Paris."

"Mom got this?"

"Yeah. She said that she didn't want you to work somewhere dangerous, and that included your superhero job. It's what, twice now you've died?" She was the only one in the family to know about the first time.

Shin nodded, "It is. The most I'll have to worry about is cutting a finger off."

"Shin."

"I'm teasing." He said and then continued to look through, "What do you think I should do?"

"Shin,"

"I'm serious. I've done a few things that I wanted to do and I leaving will leave you one less worker."

She sighed, "Shin, as much as I love for you to work here; you should do what you think you need to do. I remember you telling me the same thing before Ryuusuke and I got married. She also found a place that can help you learn the language before classes start in September."

"I'd have to leave in February." Shin said reading through said pamphlet.

"Yes." Sayoko said, "And I can always hire people to work here. There has to be some shy, sweet kid that can sit at the counter and read his books as customers look around."

"Yayoi won't like it."

"She does like it, actually." Sayoko laughed, "She thinks you should go for it. She told me to call you an idiot if you didn't go. It's something you can't miss out on."

"Mom even started the paperwork for staying in country." Shin smiled, "I can't let it go to waste."

"You'll go then?"

"Yes. I have to."

"Cook!" Taro yelled.

"Shh." Taro heard his mother say, which caused him to laugh.

"He's such a troublemaker already." She said yawning, "Let me try to get him to go to sleep."

"I can get it. You go to sleep."

"Alright, just don't let him stay up too late," she said getting up, "Or you'll deal with him tomorrow."

Shin nodded.

Giving him a kiss on the forehead, Sayoko said good night. For the rest of the night, Shin sat in Taro's room just talking to him. When Sayoko found them in the morning, they were still in the rocking chair. Taro's head was tucking under Shin's chin. Both were snoring; Taro's being short and cute and Shin's being loud and annoying. Grabbing her camera, Sayoko couldn't help but take a picture. It was the last picture she was able to take before Shin left for Europe weeks later.


	28. Part 2 Ch 1

**Here's the start of part 2. I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

><p>It was crazy in the streets of Paris. Nasuti's taxi had a hard time trying to get her to her hotel. Everyone in the streets were still celebrating France's win from the night before in the FIFA World Cup. The twenty-eight year old couldn't help but feel the joy with them.<p>

"Did you come for the game?" the taxi driver asked.

"No, I'm here for a meeting." She replied.

"Ah, what a do you do?"

"I'm a history professor in Sendai, Japan."

"You married?"

"I am."

"Any children?"

"One on the way." She smiled.

"Congrats then." The driver smiled, "They are a handful. I have two in their teens and they caused me all the gray hair."

Hearing her stomach growl, Nasuti instead asked for the closest place to eat at the time. The driver pointed out a place on the right. Tipping him, she left. Walking in, she noticed that it was a café but with pictures of another country in it. She assumed it was German, but being in Europe she couldn't assume anything. The place itself wasn't busy.

"Hello?" she called out.

"One moment." She heard from the back.

A red headed man with a short trimmed moustache and some hair on his chin, walked out. The two stared at each other for a bit before Nasuti laughed.

"Shin, it is so good to see you. I didn't expect you to be still in France."

"I haven't found a reason to leave yet." He smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"Explaining to NATO again why the armors are not bad. They're throwing a fit about what happened in Los Angeles."

"What did Touma do?"

"The genius took his children flying. They still can't identify who you all are yet, but they keep calling me every time something with the armors happens. I have to fly to New York in a couple of days to speak at the UN Assembly." She paused to look at a menu, "Hmm, I don't suppose you could make something easy on the stomach?"

"Nasuti, for you, I'll make anything." He grinned, "Are you sick?"

"Pregnant."

"Oh, well that makes sense. Congrats."

Minutes later, he came out with a plate of bread, chicken broth, and a bowl of cut fruit. It wasn't anything special, but Nasuti didn't complain. Shin told her that he paid for it as a treat.

"So," she started after finishing, "What's new for you?"

"Nothing really."

"No girlfriend?"

"No. I just work and get yelled at for jumping into the Seine. I do have an interesting neighbor. She is always reading or carrying books and seems to like to follow me. Oh, well, Ryo fell down the stairway when he was here."

"Was that why he didn't play?"

"Yeah, he was pretty mad, but I was able to see the games close up as he was able to get me into restricted areas."

They continued to talk until another customer walked in. Shin excused himself to help him. Watching him, Nasuti picked up that he looked relaxed again. He didn't have the muscular look he had while he was in the Maritime Agency.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a crash.

"Ach, scheisse. Wo ist meine Brille?" she heard from the back.

She guessed it was the owner. The man was round and older and she thought he looked like Doc from the old Snow White cartoon. He came out to ask Shin, who then lifted a book near the register, and brought him his glasses.

When the customer was satisfied and a bit frightened, Shin came back to her table.

"Sorry about that. Mr. Becker is really a nice man. He's just losing his mind." Shin smiled, "His wife is easier to deal with."

"That's alright." She looked at her watch, "I should go. I have a hotel reservation that I need to meet. Maybe we can get together later?"

Shin nodded, and wrote a number down, "I'll be done at five."

"If I'm awake, I'll call." She said standing.

* * *

><p>At his apartment door, Shin watched his neighbor, Michelle walk by. She looked like she was in a hurry. The brunette quickly unlocked the door, walked in and slammed it shut. Shin could only shake his head. Throwing his tie and brown vest on his bed, he went into the living room. As he settled down on the hard chair, he heard his phone ring.<p>

"Hello?"

"Shin, it's Nasuti ."

"Hey. What's up?"

"Do you still want to do dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up. What hotel at you at?"

Minutes later, Shin showed up on his moped. He received a look from Nasuti, even though she took the helmet he offered. It was a short ride to the restaurant. Nasuti noticed that Shin sat facing the door. He sighed as a woman walked in.

"There she is." Shin said quietly.

"That Michelle woman?"

"On time like always."

"I think she likes you."

"No, she stalks me. It's creepy. If she liked me, she's actually talk to me when I say 'hi.'" He sounded annoyed, but changed the subject, "How far along are you?"

"Four months." She said, "Seiji thinks we'll have a girl to torment him more."

"Yayoi would love that."

"She would."

She heard him sigh after mentioning Yayoi. The two decided to break off their relationship, even though they didn't really want to end it. Yayoi was now engaged, and Shin looked a bit pained about it.

"So was the cooking school everything you wanted it to be?" Nasuti asked.

"It was. The two years flew by, and then I had to do a year of internship."

"How was that?"

"I think that my German has gotten better. Mrs. Becker won't let me leave." Shin laughed, "She always tells me that I remind her of her son, and that I should stay in France and marry her daughter."

"Ooh, is she pretty?"

"Gabby's not bad looking. If I was a man who picked women for their looks, oh boy, I'd be a winner. She's nice, and I get along with her brother Martin fairly well." Shin frowned, "She just doesn't see herself leaving Europe."

"That's sad, but you don't seem to be leaving anytime soon either."

"True. You know how I said that being in the Maritime Agency would keep me single?"

She nodded, remembering the day very well.

"Well, I think cooking has done that too." Shin sighed, "Shu married that Korean woman, and Ryo gets run over by women all the time that he has to keep Byauken near him to scare them off. I get a stalker. And an unfriendly one at that."

"I guess a stalker is a start." She tried not to laugh.

"Shu told me that I should marry his sister and take their name since I'm not really a Mori, and that we'd open a restaurant together. He wanted to call it 'Shu and Shin Rei Fuan's House of Food.'"

"What did you say?"

"It made us sound like a fat, gay couple."

"Shin, that's not nice." She was now laughing out loud.

"He later agreed with me."

After receiving their food, Nasuti noticed that Shin's stalker seemed to be writing things down.

"What is she doing now?"

"Writing."

"Of course."

"That's normal? Have you talked to someone about it?"

"No. The police ignore me when I call."

"Hmm, well, the food would be good, but my taste buds have been off."

Shin looked up at her, "Do you want something else?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Seiji would hate me if I let you starve." He waved the waiter over so he could pay, "I'll bring you to my place and make you something."

"Shin, you don't have to."

He gave her a smile, "It's fine, I don't mind."

Serving in between traffic, Nasuti held onto his waist to the point where he had to stop to let her settle down. When she was ready, they took off again. Walking into his apartment, she instantly noticed the lack of furniture. He had two chairs and a plastic container for his table. There was a wooden desk that his TV and phone sat on. Over the TV were an Austin Powers poster and an autographed football shirt from the Japanese National Team.

"Sorry, it's not much." Shin said, a bit embarrassed after seeing her look, "The rest of the place is a bit better."

Shin heard another door shut and sighed. Nasuti guessed that his stalker came home.

"You should confront her if she bothers you so much."

"Martin and I used to shake the bed up against the wall every night to mess with her. She wouldn't look at me for a month until I actually brought Gabby over." Shin laughed, "I hoped that she would leave."

"She can hear through the walls?"

"I sometimes hear her friends when I'm trying to sleep."

Nasuti shook her head.

Later during the night, Shin moved her to his bed. She had fallen asleep as they were watching a movie. Shin had grabbed an extra blanket and pillow and crashed in the living room.

* * *

><p>Nasuti woke up to the smell of food and the sounds of guitars playing. Walking out of the bedroom, she noticed that there was a man and woman in the apartment. They looked related, and later Shin confirmed that they were the twins, Martin and Gabriella. She thought it was funny though, while the twins looked like siblings, Shin and Martin looked like they could be too. Both had the same short red hair. Martin had more of a rounded face and didn't dress nearly as nice as Shin did.<p>

"No, this key." Martin speaking broke Nasuti out of her dazed thoughts.

"Breakfast?" Gabby asked.

"Yes please. Do you all usually do this in the morning?"

Gabby turned, before looking back at her, "Yes. They've done this since their university days. I've only started a year ago. It's a nice change before work."

"It is."

"So, are you one of Shin's friends from Japan?"

"Yes, I've been living in Japan for a few years, but Bordeaux is actually home."

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder. Shin still has an accent."

"Hey." They heard him yell, "You said I sounded pretty good."

"You are too English." Gabby turned to Nasuti, "Once he gets the wine into him, he sounds like a Frenchman."

Nasuti laughed, "Oh, I should go. I have a meeting to go to. It was nice meeting you both."

* * *

><p>The NATO meeting was stressful. She had a hard time trying to not lose her patience with everyone in the room. Some of the ambassadors were suggesting that there be warrant out for the five armored men, and some wanted to use them as determents against other countries. Nasuti kept reminding them that the armors were not weapons to use against their enemies, but she was shot down every time.<p>

Walking out of the room, someone caught her eye. Sitting near the French representative was Shin's stalker Michelle. Apparently Michelle saw her too, because it became a game of cornering Nasuti. It didn't take long to herd her into another teammate.

"Howdy, Mrs. Date. Can we talk?" the big man with a handlebar moustache spoke. He was not from France as he had a heavy American accent.

"And you are?"

"I'll explain later. It will only be a minute of your time." The man said.

She was forcefully escorted away.


	29. Part 2 Ch 2

**Here's the next one. I don't own the Apple company.**

* * *

><p>She was forced into a chair, and surrounded by four people. The American introduced himself as Peter Hanson. Next to him was a MI6 agent Brandon Weathers, DRPP agent Michelle Reichart and director Jean-Philippe Renault.<p>

"Madame Date, please," Mr. Renault started in English, "Excuse the Texan buffoon's rudeness. We do not mean to scare you. I wish to only have a few questions answered that we could not ask in the meeting."

"Can I ask a few questions?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing this is about my friend who lives here."

"It is." Michelle answered, "You're friend, Mr. Mori is quite the fascinating fellow, and has an odd sense of humor. We have reason to believe he is one of the Samurai you wrote about in your recent book. His records in the Japanese Maritime Agency match up to what your book says about one leaving the group for a time."

"What interested you in him?"

"At first, we didn't think to watch him. He was just another student coming to France for school, until we received pictures of what happened in London in 1993 and New York in 1991. There was a good photo of his face from a CCTV camera outside of Buckingham Palace. We just need to know if this is true and the identities of the other four. It is for the world's utmost safety that we know."

Nasuti laughed, "He thinks you're a stalker."

"This I know about. He and his friend have played many tricks on me before, but regardless, it was for the best that he thought I was the rude, creepy stalker."

Mr. Hanson coughed, "Pardon me, but can we just grab him now? I'm itching to see this magic stuff."

"It's not magic." Mr. Weathers said, "After watching the videos from New York and London, I must say it's more like a weapon. These men are a danger to the world. One was clearly flying around in daylight scaring people."

"They are not. They've saved it many times." Nasuti argued.

"Please," Mr. Renault interrupted, "I just need to know if Mr. Mori wouldn't mind if we did a few tests with the armor. We need to make sure that he is mentally able to continue owning something so dangerous."

"He's fine." Nasuti growled, "They'll all fine."

"Fine then. Madame Date, Mr. Hanson will be your escort out of the country tomorrow. I must ask you to refrain from communicating with Mr. Mori until then. You will be watched and someone will be around to know if you use your phone. That is all. Michelle, come with me please."

The Texan turned to her, "Do they really fly?"

"Only one can." Nasuti said, not looking at him.

"They aren't psycho killers are they?"

"No, most of them have families like we do."

Mr. Weathers growled, "Don't listen to her. These men destroy everything they're around. I'm leaving."

"You're just butt hurt about a bunch of stones being blown up." The Texan laughed.

"Well, when they blow up Mount Rushmore, you'll feel more than butt hurt."

Left along with the Texan, Nasuti knew she had to find a way to let Shin know.

* * *

><p>Making something in the kitchen of the Becker's café, Shin was listening to Martin make fun of him for preparing food for Nasuti.<p>

"She's hasn't been able to eat very well." Shin said, "The least I can do while she's away from home is make her something."

"I think you like her a bit too much." Martin teased.

"No, she's married to a friend of mine."

"Doesn't mean you don't like her."

Shin shook his head, "Maybe that was true ten years ago, but I don't anymore. Not like that anyways. Can you bring it to her?"

"Oh now you're pushing it Mr. Japanese Croissant."

"Please? I'll wear the Austin Powers' glasses and teeth for the rest of the day."

Martin looked at Shin's poor face, "Fine, but you better sound like him too."

"Yeah baby, yeah." Shin laughed grabbing an oversize pair of glasses and fake teeth, "Do I make you horny? Are you switched on?"

"Okay, that's just creepy." Martin laughed, "All day Shin. I want to hear my mother complain about you for once."

"Please tell me you are not doing Austin Powers again?" Shin heard Gabby from behind him.

"Uh, I am."

"I just don't understand why you two are still obsessed with that movie. It was funny last year."

"So?"

* * *

><p>Walking around the hotel, Martin noticed a lot of men in black suits. It was a bit odd to see, but he didn't want to get too involved in it. He was thinking that Shin was being lectured by his sister by now. He laughed to himself as he stood in front of Nasuti's room.<p>

"Room service." He called.

Nasuti opened the door, "Martin?"

"Food."

"Hold on. I'll get some money." She said.

"Oh I d-"

"Do you take check?"

Hearing something irregular in her tone, he nodded. He received the check and a slip of paper that was folded. It read to open later.

"Have a nice day then, Madame." He heard the door shut, "That was odd."

"Sir, can I see what she gave you?" a man spoke from behind. It wasn't French.

Martin handed him the check. The man looked at it, sighed, and handed it back.

"You're good to go."

"Merci." Martin turned to look at the note, "Mother fuckers."

Returning to his family's restaurant, he asked where Shin was. His mother told him that Shin was let home early because of his ridiculous act.

"But you, can stay since it was your idea." She said.

"Fine." He said.

Gabby was on her way out and stopped when Martin pulled her aside. He handed her the note. All it said that Shin was being watched by the government and needed to know.

"What did he do?" Gabby asked.

"Don't know, but his friend looked afraid. His stalker neighbor is some spy, but they can't know that we know."

"Got it." Gabby said, taking a match to burn the letter.

* * *

><p>Shin was taking his work clothes off when he heard a knock on the door. Leaving his shirt unbuttoned he answered. He was quickly surprised when Gabby grabbed his face, and held him in a kiss. He tried to fight it to ask her, but she pushed him into his bedroom, turned the radio up loud and pushed him onto the bed. She began to bounce on the bed. Still confused, Shin followed suit.<p>

"What was-"

"Shh," she covered his mouth, "We can't talk loudly. Nasuti gave Martin a note saying that you're friendly stalker neighbor is actually a not so friendly government agent. Is she home?"

"She is actually, now that you mention it." Shin paused, "That explains the radio being loud and the two of us bouncing on the bed. But was the kiss necessary?"

"Yes, you would have said something that alerted them." Then she laughed, "I forgot that you are a good kisser."

"Why?" Shin gave her a goofy smile, "Last time we did, you said that I dearly needed help."

"That was a lie."

They stopped talking when there was a knock on the door. Shin stood to get it. Carefully walking towards the door, he saw from the corner of his eye someone bust in the window. The front door then too busted open. Masked men with pistols came in. Shin kicked a chair at the one coming in from the window, and then turned punch the one coming in from the door. He heard a crash from the bathroom and bedroom and then Gabby's high pitch scream. Making sure Suiko was in his pocket, he headed towards Gabby. He was attacked by the man coming in from the bathroom. Using the door frame, Shin cracked the man's shoulder before kicking him back into the room. He heard a familiar sound of a hammer being pulled back and stopped in the door frame with his arms up. An arm wrapped around his face with a cloth. Shin passed out hearing Gabby screaming his name.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Mori." He heard a voice in English when he started waking, "Can you understand me?"<p>

"Are we in England?"

"No Mr. Mori." The voice said, "You're in an interrogation room. I'm Agent Weathers and this is my associate Mr. Hanson. We're here to ask you about your armor."

"What?" Shin sobered up quickly, "How do you know about that?"

"Mrs. Date was kind enough to tell us, but we've had our suspicions for a while now. I need you to tell us how you got this armor."

"No."

"It'll be easier on you, partner, if you spill." The Texan said, holding a knife in his hand.

"May I call you Shin?" the Brit asked.

"No, you can stick to Mr. Mori." Shin growled, "I haven't done anything wrong since being here in Paris. Why are you just now finding me?"

The Brit laughed, "Mr. Mori, you may not have done anything here, but I remember you breaking a few things in my country."

"That wasn't us, that was the group attacking us at the time." Shin looked at the other man, "We were not trying to destroy your country."

Mr. Weathers had a wooden stick in his hand, and was gently hitting his other hand, "This is going to take a while then, isn't it. Mr. Hanson, can you grab us some tea? I think Mr. Mori is one who likes Earl Grey."

He waited for the American to walk out and back in with three cups.

"I understand that you have family in Canterbury." He started again, "I find it amusing that out of the five that Mrs. Date described that only one is of European descent. Don't you?"

"No. People travel and find love in different countries. Mr. Hanson should know. His country is full of every type of person."

"What I am getting to, is that maybe you should realign your loyalties. If I remember right, you abandoned your nation's coast guard and for punishment was sent to Somalia, a country that Japan hasn't sent troops to. If you gave your armor to us, you won't have to worry about inhumane punishments."

"I'm not giving it up!" Shin slammed his fist on the table, "We try not to harm people, but things happen. Do you want me to apologize for Stonehenge? Or for the park outside of Buckingham?"

"No, I want these armors that seem to stop even the biggest caliber of ammunition put away from a bunch of kids. Do you know that North Korea or even Russia is interested in these now? Could you imagine how easy it would be for them to get one? We had a Russian spy captured last year, and the North Koreans kidnap Japanese civilians on their own soil all the time. What's to stop them from getting their hands on one of you and using your armor against us?"

"I do know about the chances of them kidnapping one of us. We had to go through this kind of training in the Maritime Agency. But it's not like the others can't put up a fight."

"What about the one in Los Angeles scaring people."

"He was playing around. He has kids." Shin sighed, "I don't know he decided to just go fly. Sometimes he gets in trouble because he gets bored easily."

He watched Mr. Weathers lay out pictures. They were pictures from New York and London.

"Who are your friends?" He was now right in Shin's face.

"Stop." Another man walked in. He was in a suit, with black hair slicked back, "Mr. Weathers, this is going nowhere."

He walked by Hanson, and took the knife. Two more men walked behind Shin's chair grabbing him. His right hand was forced on the table.

"Monsieur Mori," he began, "Please tell me the names of the other armor bearers."

Looking at the knife, Shin began sweating more, "No."

The man looked at his associates. Shin's fist was forced open before the man slammed the knife into it. Shin yelled out loud, as he was flipped out of his chair. The other two men were now holding Shin's feet, making Shin hold onto the table with his left hand.

"Monsieur Mori," the man said, "We do not have time for this. You being here in France is causing us problems. Answer my question, or my associates will drop your feet causing the knife to cut the rest of your hand open, and you can try to hold yourself up, but I think your other arm will get tired."

"Mr. Renault," the Texan started, "I thought we were not abusing him."

"Being nice is not getting us anywhere. He's been a prisoner before, and this was probably nothing like a Demon's torture. Kindness will not make him speak, pain will." Turning back to Shin, Mr. Renault continued, "Their names please."

"The one in red is Ryo Sanada." Shin sighed giving in.

"The soccer player? He was just in France." Mr. Hanson gasped.

"Continue." The Frenchman said.

"The one in the dark blue is Touma Hashiba."

"Works for Apple. He's pretty good with computers I might say. He built a good one for me." Hanson laughed.

Shin growled, "Seiji Date is the one in green and Shu Rei Faun is the last one."

"Mrs. Date is married to one, no wonder she would not give their names." Mr. Weathers said.

"Drop him." Renault said putting a folder on the table, "Michelle, please have Mrs. Date brought here. I must ask her about her husband. And we need to find a way to invite Mr. Rei Faun here."

"What about Sanada and Hashiba?" Weathers asked.

"Lucky for them, we can't have a famous footballer and a computer geek suddenly disappear. It would cause chaos."

Shin's eyes grew big as he felt his hand slip. He grabbed it shortly after. He bowed his head in disappointment.

"Where's Gabby?"

"Ms. Becker is right in the other room watching you." Weathers said, "Drink your tea; it's a waste to let it sit there. We'll bandage your hand, and then you're going to give us your armor to play with. It's going to become property of NATO."

"And me?"

"Congratulations Mr. Mori," Weathers smiled looking through the folder and tossing it to him, "You've just been granted a French citizenship. You can change your family name to Blanc if it makes you feel better. I hope you like it here because you won't be allowed out of the border without an escort."

The Englishman walked out, disappointed. He had wanted the warrior to go to England.

The only one left was the Texan, "Here's something for your hand. Boy, y'all have plenty to do today on a wound like that."

"I've had worse." Shin said, wrapping his hand, "Where's Gabby again?"

"She's going with us when we grab the Date woman."

"Are you pretty good with that pistol?"

"Boy, you've obviously have never seen a gunslinger before. I could pull this out and shoot you twice before you move."

"Let's see then. Your shooting skills against my armor." Shin smirked, knowing his next move was crazy, "Busso! Suiko!"

"What the?" The Texan yelled as the armor of Suiko appeared in front of him.

He was able to get the two shots off, but not able to stop the bull rush of the armor crashing into him. Hearing the shots, Renault and the other two men turned around. Weathers frowned, as he pushed Gabby forward.

"Kill him if you must." Renault said, pulling his own pistol out.

Suddenly the water pipes in the hallway busted. Mr. Hanson was seen being tossed out of the room unconscious. The water was giving the two gunmen a hard time seeing anything. Two shots rang out, and Renault turned to run. It was useless firing at the magic armor when he was also armed.

Running out of the building, Shin watched the car with Gabby take off. Chasing them out of the courtyard, Shin dodged a car coming at him. Hearing sirens, he jumped to the rooftops. He knew that he had to get Gabby and Nasuti out of the hands of the agents, he just felt bad that it had come down to hurting someone.


	30. Part 2 Ch 3

**Here's the next one.**

* * *

><p>Watching his mirror, Weathers couldn't find the armored man. He knew that the boy was on the rooftops following closely.<p>

"Michelle, turn here." He said.

They met up with heavily armed police at the Seine River. He asked Michelle to stop. Getting out, he could see Shin on top of a building. The sounds of helicopters could be heard and the sky was getting darker.

"Damn News," he said, "Can't keep their bloody noses out of things."

"Would you if you heard about gunshots and armored men running around?" Michelle asked.

"Why is he just sitting there?"

"If you want him to come, you have to give him a reason to hurry up."

Weathers nodded, opening the door and pulling Gabby out, "Walk slowly and don't try anything."

She nodded, feeling something against her back.

"Brandon, what are you doing?" he heard the other agent call.

"Bringing him over here." He responded, "I hope you can swim Ms. Becker."

"Why?" she felt him grab her and toss her over the bridge into the river.

He then watched Shin jump from the building into the river to get her. The river rose high enough for the two to get on the bridge.

"Shoot him!" Weathers yelled.

Gabby ran towards the other side of the bridge. From there she could see Shin stay on a knee, trying to hold himself up. The gun fire ceased as water started to form around the area into a dome.

"Maybe tossing her into the river wasn't such a good idea." Weathers heard Michelle from behind him, "I mean, the entire Seine River is now above us."

"Shut up." He barked, "Do we have anything bigger than that?"

"A few rockets." He heard.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Mr. Renault wants to test the armor, let's do it."

"But you will blow a historical bridge up."

"And there's an entire river above our head."

Weathers sighed. He wanted to see the armor destroyed. He could see Shin now standing up pointing at him with his injured hand.

"Tell them to leave." He heard Shin say. He assumed that he was referring to the armored cars and police.

"Brandon." Michelle sounded afraid.

"Is that rocket ready?"

"It is."

"Brandon, you're going to flood Paris."

"No," the Englishman smiled, "He is."

Shin continued to stare the other man down. He was a bit worried about what was happening as he didn't really want to flood the place. He was really hoping that they'd just be in awe of the power of the armor and leave him be.

"Shin, there's a lot of water above us." He heard Gabby say.

He turned his head to her, giving her a smile, "I know. I'm sorry if it scares you."

She gave him one in returned, but it quickly became a grimace when she spotted the rocket.

"Shin…" she called out in warning.

Dropping his trident, he grabbed Gabby and jumped into the river, bringing the water down with him. Everyone under the dome of water was soon forced into the ground as the water hit them. After setting Gabby on the walkway under the bridge, he forced himself up. He came down on top of one of the armored cars and then jumped down to pick Weathers up. Slamming him against the same car, Shin could see the fear in his eyes. The police backed up from him.

"I'm not some weapon that just destroys, and I don't like to scare people. My job is to protect the entire world, not just members of NATO." Shin then let the taller man drop to his feet. Suiko left, leaving him in his underarmor.

"I'm sorry about flooding your headquarters, but I hope that you'll understand why the armors are here." He then jumped back to where Gabby was, "Come on, we have to find Nasuti."

Looking at everyone around her, Michelle sighed.

"Go home. This case is closed."

* * *

><p>Gabby felt sick as Shin carried her quickly through the streets.<p>

"Shin, let's get Martin to help us."

"It's probably dangerous."

"And you are bringing me along."

Shin sighed, "We'll stop to get him."

Walking in the front door, Martin and their parents were watching the news.

"Shin, what was that?" he asked.

"Ugh, I'll explain. I need to borrow you. You know, top secret mission stuff."

"Ok." He said, not quite understanding.

"We'll be back." Gabby told her parents.

Sitting in the Peugeot, Martin looked at his friend, "Okay, this has to be explained. There were a lot of cops on TV."

"If we told you, you wouldn't believe it." Gabby said, "Shin has magic armor."

"Armor? What do you all do in Japan?"

"Fight demons." Shin grinned, "But now, we have to get Nasuti."

"Ok."

There was no one outside. They were able to get to Nasuti's hotel in no time. Parking across the street, they could see a few cars and armed men outside.

"This is like a James Bond movie. You want us to go in?" Martin said.

"Only if you don't mind getting shot at."

"Shin, I don't get shot at very often. It's something we avoid here."

Shin grinned handing him a pistol, "Wish me luck then."

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" Martin gave him a nasty look.

"Defend yourself?"

"Do I look like I can use one of these?"

"Don't you have mandatory service time here?"

"Yes." Martin sighed, "Fine, I'll come but only because you made my mother complain about you today. After this, no more excitement. We stick to music and cooking."

"Deal." He said, grabbing Martin and jumping on top of a building.

"Oh Clark Kent, you are my hero." Martin said.

"Shh, you're not my type."

"But earlier you said I was."

Shin shook his head, before making the giant jump across the road.

"Let me go first." Shin whispered.

He opened a window on the same floor that Nasuti's room was on. Peeking inside, he didn't see anyone. He waved Martin in. Opening a door, Shin checked the hallways. There were two men standing outside her door.

"Were the guards there last time?"

"No, they were around though."

"Okay." Shin said before rolling out the door.

Grabbing a vase full of flowers, he threw it at one guard. The other one charge him, only to trip over Martin's foot. He then gave the man a kick to the back of the head.

"They should feel like fools for letting two cooks beat them up." Martin laughed.

Standing outside the door, Martin held the pistol ready as Shin kicked it in. They heard Nasuti shriek, and felt like fools when there was no one else in there.

"What are you two doing?"

"Apparently saving you from nothing." Martin laughed.

"The French guy said he was coming to get you." Shin said.

"Which French guy and why were you on TV fighting the police?" Nasuti asked with her hands on her hips.

"Renault was his name and they kidnapped me."

"You did get my message then." She sighed, "I'm glad it didn't go bad then."

"Well, my hand hurts like hell. I might need your help with it." Shin said.

"Show me."

Taking his underarmor off, Martin turned his face.

"What did they do?"

"It's nothing, but don't let the rest of the guys come here to France."

"Do they know who they are?" Nasuti asked.

"I couldn't help it. I had a knife literally in my hand."

"Come to the sink. You're dripping everywhere."

"We have to get back to Gabby. She's outside." Martin said.

"Alright, can you make it back to your place?"

Shin nodded, putting the underarmor back on. Taking the stairs, the trio got out of the hotel fairly quickly. When they got outside, the guards took one look at Shin and got out of the way.

"Not so tough now are they?" Martin laughed.

Shin frowned. They just let them leave.

Getting back to his apartment, he had a chance to look at the damage. There was glass everywhere. For while, they were cleaning.

"Knock, knock." They heard from the door. It was Michelle.

"What do you want?" Shin growled.

"I came to apologize for today, and to let you know that you are wanted to talk at the NATO meeting tomorrow." She frowned, "And we'll have your apartment fixed by tomorrow."

"So you all changed your mind?" Nasuti asked.

"They might. It was decided that we can't control you, but that doesn't mean you won't be watched. For now at least. Everything will be decided tomorrow." She turned to enter her apartment.

Nasuti sighed, "I have a flight tomorrow."

"I guess you're changing those plans." Martin said.

* * *

><p>After finishing the cleaning and covering the windows, the four found themselves in the living room. Nasuti was asleep on the bed mattress that was pulled out for her. Martin was also sleeping, talking about something. Shin was quietly explaining what happened and why he had armor. Gabby was leaning against him.<p>

"I hope it doesn't change your mind about me." Shin spoke softly.

She smiled rubbing his injured hand, "No, it doesn't. It was scary and unexpected though."

"Hmm, you owe me for teasing me earlier."

"Do I?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, how does Friday after work sound?"

"Yeah. Works for me."

Shin woke up in the morning with his hand aching in pain. Gabby told him to go to the hospital, but Martin told him to man up and take it. Gabby later won when Nasuti also told him to go. Grabbing the clothes they would need for later, they headed out the door.

"Hey doc, wrap it up big." Martin spoke, "He has an important meeting to go today and everyone should see it."

Using his left hand, Shin slapped Martin in the chest, "I'm not trying to make a big show out of it."

"If some government guy stabbed you to get information out, I'd throw that back at him. Maybe you can get him sacked."

"Can you believe it?" Gabby came into the room almost yelling with anger, "They're trying to play yesterday off like it was some new movie being filmed but the way people are talking, they don't seem to take it as a good answer."

"Really?" Shin spoke.

"Yes, it's on the news." Nasuti said, "How's the hand?"

"It'll be fine. I just won't be using it for a while."

"Cash register for you." Martin teased, "I just hope you don't cut yourself on the money."

"I've had worst." Shin smiled.

"If being stabbing in the hand is not your worst, then I don't want to know what is."

Nasuti sighed, "Come on Shin, we have an important meeting to go to."

The twins said their goodbyes as Nasuti and Shin got into a taxi. Shin was stubbornly trying to fix his tie with no luck. He turned to his partner in crime.

"Anything I should know?" he said in Japanese.

"They're like sharks."

"I can handle sharks."

"I know you can." Nasuti smiled, "They might ask a lot of questions, but don't let them pressure you into making anymore deals. You're the face of the Samurai Troopers now."

Shin sighed, "Seiji or Touma would be better at this."

"No," Nasuti laughed, "As much as I love him, Seiji would be brash, and Touma would try to be a smartass. I think you'll be fine. Just go with the flow."

"Alright." Shin sighed again, "I'll try. You'll be there, though right?"

"Yes. I'll be there."


	31. Part 2 Ch 4

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Nausti could tell that Shin felt like crawling into a hole and disappearing. He looked pale, and was sweating more than usual. There were a few times he mumbled that he needed to throw up too. The NATO members were just beating him mentally. Some were accusing him and the other four warriors of murder and being power hungry. When he was asked to defend himself, he just gave Nasuti a blank stare. Standing up, Nasuti asked for a break.<p>

"Okay, so maybe that wasn't as easy as swimming with sharks." Nasuti said after getting Shin out of the room and outside near a fountain.

"No." Shin said, splashing his face with the water, "Sharks will just eat their prey, and not play with it. I felt like I was tossed into a cage with the Masho and mentally beaten with a wooden stick that was on fire."

"There's a sink inside. The water is probably cleaner." They both heard. It was Michelle.

"You knew what they were going to do." Shin spoke harshly.

"Yes, but if you truly think that people are just going to let five men run around with some magic armor that can't be destroyed by our weapons, then you are naïve and mistaken. People, even now, are looking at you wondering if you'll start destroying the place or if you're some kind of actor they don't know."

Shin did notice he was receiving looks or that people would avoid where he was.

"Okay," Shin relaxed his tone of voice, "What would you do?"

"First, I'd call your friends and tell them to not run around in the armor. It is not a game to us who don't know a whole lot about them. Second, you should tell them the same thing you told Weathers and Renault yesterday. Whatever you say is going to reflect on you. But, I'm just the person who spent a few years stalking you." Before walking away, Michelle sighed, "Your footballer friend said it correctly when he was over here. He said something about the armors are starting to gain popularity in Japan and that the rest of the world is taking notice that it's not just a fairy tale. That's at least what the translation came to."

Shin and Nasuti watched her leave before following.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Nasuti asked.

"I do."

Taking her seat, Nasuti rearranged her notebook. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shin put his hand into his pocket. When the meeting started again and Shin was asked to explain, she saw him pull his hand out.

"Shin." She said softly.

"Busso! Suiko!" he called out. Everyone in the room dropped to the floor as he called the armor on.

Giving Nasuti a smile, he turned to the American general sitting next to him and held his hand out.

"Hello," he said in English with a smile, "I'm Shin Mori. I work at a café here in Paris. I spent the last four years here in Paris to become certified as a chef."

"Uh, hi." The general said looking at the weapon.

"Mr. Mori, what's your point on wearing that in here?" a member from England asked.

"Good question." Shin smiled. He handed Nasuti his weapon.

"I believe everyone wants pictures. Here you go. Take them. I'll simply stand here and let you, and while that's going on, I believe I need a cup of tea because you know, I'm half English, and ooh maybe a crepe to satisfy my French side. Did you know that demons don't care for those things? They'd rather just use the armor to destroy."

"Mr. Mori, this is a meeting."

"I know." Shin smiled, "And I'm proving my point."

"By asking for tea and crepes?"

"Yes."

Nasuti held her hand in front of her to hide her smile. She began to laugh when Shin told stories about him trying to teach Shu how to surf or when he Ryo, and Touma accidently set off the fire alarm in a library.

"Mr. Mori, we get it. You're not some fairy tale, but how are we to believe that you and your friends won't decide to take over the world?"

Shin straightened himself up, "Because if we wanted to, we would have done it already, knowing that your weapons can't stop us."

"And yet you stand here, scaring everyone in the room with it." He heard a familiar voice.

"Weathers." Shin muttered.

"Mr. Mori may seem a like a man who can comfort us with his words, but did you know he has quite the temperament?" the man smiled, "Just yesterday he shot and killed two of Director Renault's men, and left one in pain. Some reports about you in Somalia say you killed a boy who was defending his family."

Nasuti sighed. She could see that Michelle wasn't happy about him showing up either.

"Director Renault, is it true?" one of the members asked.

"It is."

"We don't have records of Japanese soldiers in Somalia." The American general said.

"That's because Mr. Mori is a coward who abandoned his country at one time. He was sent there with the Pakistani army as punishment instead of going to jail. He is not listed anywhere. If he was killed, then it was a simple John Doe who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Shin stood there, not knowing how to defend himself on this one. Telling them that he was busy keeping the Lord of the Dead from coming would make him look foolish.

"Last night he almost flooded Paris. He is incapable of keeping this armor." Weathers smiled, "Just hand it over mate, and we'll let you go free."

"You want it?" Shin asked, "I think I should give it to Mr. Renault, since he did put a knife into my hand yesterday. He made you look like a fool. I haven't been that terrified since 1991."

"Mr. Mori, are you accusing Mr. Renault of torture?"

"Maybe, do you all want to see my hand? Or maybe my apartment where more of his men broke into. Or maybe I should ask my friend to talk about also being kidnapped."

"You're a bloody liar." Weathers said.

"You were there!" Shin pointed a finger at him.

"You're a cook, how do we know you didn't cut your hand."

Dismissing his armor, Shin undid the wrapping of his hand to reveal the stitching, "No cook is going to cut his hand like this."

"Ms. Reichart, you work with Mr. Renault and followed Mr. Mori around." The French member started, "What do you think?"

"Mr. Mori is telling the truth." She stopped after hearing a few groans, "And while he did kill two of Mr. Renault's men, they were also looking to shoot him. And the incident on the bridge, Mr. Weathers made it worse by involving a civilian close to Mr. Mori."

The head of the meeting stood up, "Mr. Mori; Mrs. Date, could you both step out of the room. We have to discuss what to do next. When all is done, we'll call you both back in."

Sitting outside, Shin was people watching. It was taking his mind off of the meeting and how messed up everything was. If things didn't go his way, then making a permanent trip to the Demon World sounded like the only way out.

"Seiji's angry." Nasuti said walking out to him.

"He's always angry."

"He called you and Touma the biggest fools on the planet."

"Was that all?"

"No, he said some other things that I won't repeat." Nasuti sat down, "He says that they saw what happened here on the news. It was front page in Japan."

"I have a feeling that I'm making a run back to Japan soon."

"Touma said the same, Seiji told me."

"Did he say anything about what Ryo or Shu thought?"

"He did. Shu in fact, said that you were pretty awesome for someone who didn't really fight, and Ryo said that he would have done the same thing if he were you." Nasuti sighed, "Putting on your armor was your plan?"

"Yeah, it was kinda dumb wasn't it?"

"I guess we'll find out." She said, leaning back on the stairs, "I thought it was good at first."

Shin snorted, "Did you really?"

"No." Nasuti laughed, "But I think you had everyone question themselves on whether bringing you into the room was a smart idea."

"I don't want them to fear me." Nasuti watched his frustrated look turn into a smile, "Maybe I should become Superman."

"Like fighting crime and aliens?"

"Why not? I already fight demons and spirits."

Nasuti laughed, "As long as you don't wear tights, I suppose you could."

"No, I won't wear tights."

They sat in silence until Nasuti suddenly laughed, "You'd be a better Aquaman."

"I was just thinking that."

Shin spent the next few minutes whistling a tune while tapping the stairs with his fingers. The waiting was starting to get to him. It wasn't so much the waiting, but what the decision would be. He really hoped that they would just decide that the armors were going to be safe and that no one has to worry about them falling into a rival's hand. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a rumbling stomach. He turned to Nasuti, who had an uncomfortable look.

"It's past lunch." She said.

Shin nodded after looking at his watch. Now that she said something, he was getting hungry too. He really hoped that NATO would decide quickly. Shortly after, they were greeted by an escort and led back into the building.

"Mr. Mori," the head member spoke, "We have decided that the armors' affairs are to not be interrupted unless it directly affects NATO or that one of them were to fall into the hands of an enemy nation. You are free to leave, but before you do, we must know if all nine armors are accounted for."

Turning to Nasuti, Shin gave her a look.

"One of them is not accounted for." Nasuti spoke, "The last I knew, it was still in the Demon World I wrote of in my book. No one has been able to find it since the Samurais' last encounter almost five years ago."

"And which one is this, Mrs. Date?"

"The armor of venom."

"Alright," the head member sighed, "You both may leave."

Waiting outside the doors was Michelle. The brunette stood with her arms crossed with a folder in one hand.

"My government still thinks that you could help us since you're here. The offer to become a citizen is also still open if you decide to help us. From what they told me, it's not a bad deal." She said.

"What kind of work?" Shin mused.

"Water purification, ocean clean up; those kinds of things." She paused to look through the folder, "They are offering a better place to stay, offering to pay off your school debt and better pay than a café shop."

"Money's not everything to me."

"I know. I followed you around for a few years."

Shin gave her an awkward smile, "You did. Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Yes, although they want an answer by next week. As soon as the UN hears about our meeting, don't be surprised if you encounter more ambassadors from other countries, or even companies, offering the same kinds of things."

"Speaking of UN meetings," Nasuti interrupted, "I have to catch a plane that I am late for."

"Then I can give you a ride." Michelle said.

Turning to Shin, Nasuti whispered in Japanese, "Good luck with this."

Shin smiled, "I'm going to try to."


	32. Part 2 Ch 5

**I don't own the songs mentioned. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Finding himself on the floor with his tie and jacket undone, Shin was staring at the ceiling. He had just come back from the airport after watching Nasuti leave. A glass of wine was sitting next to him, that he was drinking from. Everything that was broken from a few days before was repaired as Michelle said it would be.<p>

The meeting was replaying through his mind, and now he was calling himself foolish for what he did. Although he was free from having to forcefully give Suiko to some organization, he thought he could have done better. Checking his watch, it read four o'clock. Gabby and Martin wouldn't get off from work for another hour. Lying next to him was the folder from Michelle. He was hesitant to look through it as it contained everything that was being offered to him for decided to use Suiko as a humanitarian object. And it was only the first offer he was given from a government.

Closing his eyes to take in the silence, he heard his phone go off. Rubbing his face, he got up to answer. It was Sayoko, and she sounded worried. It didn't help that she had two tired kids in the background fighting his brother-in-law about not being able to talk to Uncle Shin. Sayoko excused herself so the two kids could go to bed sooner. He got an earful of laughter from his three year old niece Naomi. She didn't really ever talk to him; she would always just tell them that she missed him even though they hadn't met yet mixed with a lot of laughter. Taro on the other hand, went on explaining how school went and his recent experience jumping into the harbor without telling his parents where he went. Shin tried to hide his own laughter. All was interrupted by his sister telling them it was way past their bedtime and they needed to go to bed.

"So," Sayoko sighed, "When are you coming back home? There's a nice restaurant that opened up here recently. You could work there. You won't have to be fighting any government about Suiko."

"I don't know yet. I've been enjoying my time here."

"Are you still hung up about the Gabby girl?"

"No," Shin paused, "Maybe, I don't know. It's complicated. We're going out Friday, but I don't know if it's going to be considered a date."

He heard a long sigh, "Shin, out of the five of you, I thought Ryo or Touma would be the ones with girl troubles. You and Touma proved me wrong."

"If this was ten years ago, you'd scare them off, and then preach to me about how evil other girls are."

"I think you're hiding in the closet."

"What?" Shin screeched then deepened his voice, "I am not. You're getting old and senile."

He heard Ryuusuke in the background before his sister spoke, "True, all you have ever brought over to the house were men and Yayoi. And I'm not old."

"Mom told me to not bring girls over."

"Excuses." She laughed, "Well, you should think about at least coming back to visit."

"What the?" she heard Shin say.

"What?"

"There's something crying in the washroom."

Sayoko soon heard Shin shout, and the sounds of light footsteps were heard running around. She heard the words 'no,' 'step,' and 'wine' being yelled.

"Shin, what's going on?"

Hearing the phone move, Shin soon answered her question, "There's a puppy in my apartment and now I have a stain on the floor. I have no idea where it came from, but I could probably make a couple guesses of who brought it here."

"What kind of puppy?"

"The hairy kind. There's hair all over my suit and washroom." There was a pause, "Je vais tuer Martin."

"Shin, would you like me to let you go?"

"Yes please. Apparently, I have a puppy to settle down. How about I plan on coming in September?"

"Sounds great."

"Okay, until next time. Ow, you can't bite me."

"Bye Shin."

* * *

><p>By the time Martin and Gabby showed up, Shin was leaning against a counter with the puppy leaning on him, sleeping. Shin gave them both a nasty look.<p>

"I see you found Claudia." Martin laughed.

"Yeah, I did. She caused quite the mess too." Shin growled.

Gabby rolled her eyes, "You should have asked him first if he wanted a dog."

"Nah," Martin waved her off, "Claudia will keep you busy when you're home. She's a sweet puppy."

"My nice suit has black and white hair all over it, not to mention the new stain I have on the floor."

"It'll come out."

Shin raised an eyebrow at him, "A glass of Merlot is not going to leave a beige carpet, Martin."

"Ohh, you opened the Merlot?" He headed to a cabinet.

Gabby gave Shin a sad smile, "I can take her back to the breeder."

Shin shook his head, "No, after I settled her down, she cuddled up next to me. I just wish she didn't have all this hair."

"Yes, English sheepdogs have lots of hair." She smiled, "How was the meeting?"

Shin mumbled something, before making himself clearer, "I need another glass if I'm going to recall the day."

"Here." Martin said, holding a glass low for him.

"Thanks."

Shin then began telling them what had happened. As he was talking, Martin was going through the folder Michelle gave him. His eyes grew big.

"Shin, you have to take this offer."

"Why?"

Martin held up a picture of the place being offered. It was a cottage on a vineyard. A large lake was also seen in the background.

"Lots of land, a freaking lake; you could own your own winery."

Shin sighed, "I don't want countries thinking they can buy my armor with grapes."

"Wine, Shin, you fool. We could drink it like it was water."

"I see that."

Martin threw his hands up, "Why can't you be a greedy bastard for once, Nigiri?"

"I already told you why, Grenadine."

Gabby shook her head, "You two and calling each other after food."

After the shouting, the puppy woke up. The trio then spent the rest of the night out around the city walking the puppy.

* * *

><p>When Friday night came around, Shin noticed that his neighbor was moving out. Wanting to mess with Michelle one last time, Martin grabbed Shin's guitar and begged him to sing for him. When Shin asked why, the other red head replied that Shin spoke better English than he did. Shin later found out why Martin wanted him to sing. Martin began playing a Beatles song, which Shin recognized as the song 'Michelle.' Already dressed nice for his own date, Shin sighed before singing. The warrior of water tried to not laugh towards the end, but couldn't help it when Martin changed songs. Shin rolled his eyes and joined in on Martin's next prank.<p>

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want." Martin's English was heavily accented.

"So tell me what you want, what you really, really want."

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want."

"So tell me what you want, what you really, really want."

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really," they both saw Michelle open the door with her typical annoyed look as Martin was finishing, "wanna say hi."

"One, you didn't sing the correct words, and two," She had her hands on her hips, "Why would you sing a beautiful song and then ruin it with the Spice Girls?"

"Because you're leaving us. How will we get through the day without our favorite stalker?" Martin smiled.

Shin couldn't stop laughing as Michelle slapped Martin. He too then received one.

"What was that for?" Martin yelled.

"For being a fool."

"Why did I get one?" Shin asked innocently.

"Because you're dumb enough to be friends with him. Don't you have a date tonight?"

Shin nodded, "I was just about to change."

He left his friend with the bitter woman. As he walked into his apartment, Gabby was already there and dressed semi-formally.

"I was going to get you in a few minutes." Shin whined.

"I'm the one that kissed you, so I came to pick you up. Are you two still tormenting Michelle?"

"Yes." Shin gave her a fake frown, "It was Martin's idea again."

"And singing the Spice Girls was not helping him?"

"Okay, so we couldn't let her go without a show. She did follow me around for a couple of years."

The puppy at the time was lying on Shin bed watching them. Much to Shin's dislike, she would sleep on his bed when he was at work and again when he was in bed. When he walked in to grab his shoes, she sat up. Claudia was trying to look cute to get his attention.

"You're not eating my nice shoes again, are you?" Shin asked.

She just looked at him.

"Aww, not my Dockers. Why can't you eat my old sneakers?" he said frustrated after looking behind his bedroom door.

She started to move, but stopped when Shin hissed at her, "I'm trying to get out of here without being covered. We'll play later. Behave for Martin will you?"

Again, he just received a look from the dog. Walking out of the bedroom he joined Gabby at the front door. She had a basket in her hands.

"Come, we have a bit of a drive." She said with a devilish smile.

"Okay."

* * *

><p>When they left, the sun was just starting to set. Seeing the city itself start to thin out, Shin started to wonder where they were going. Soon they were on a country road near the Seine River. Mentally slapping himself for not leaving the city more often, the smell of the country hit it hard.<p>

"We're near a farm aren't we?"

"Yes, but not for long."

"Okay, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, Shin. Be patient."

Sighing, Shin turned to the window. Soon the car stopped in an area by the river. There was a small island in the water. Gabby grabbed the basket, and motioned Shin to follow her, only to stop by the shore.

"There was a small bridge here." She said, disappointed.

Looking around, Shin brought Suiko out to put the underarmor on.

"I can get us over. It's not a far jump."

Holding on tightly, Gabby tried to not yell out as they hit the ground on the island. Soon after, Shin took the underarmor off.

"There," Shin grinned, "No one can follow."

"Michelle won't be here, just so you know."

Shin laughed, "That's not what I meant."

Gabby rolled her eyes. Shin was reminding her how childish he could be sometimes when it was just the two of them. Opening the basket, she pulled out several towels wrapped around food she had brought with her from her parents' café.

"So Mr. Armor-man how was your day?" she asked.

"Busy. I think people only come into the café now to ask me questions about the armor. I think your father wanted me to stand outside and wave people in."

"Well, you wanted people to trust that you were not there to kill them."

"I wasn't expecting to get movie offers."

Gabby stopped setting up to look at him, "Movie offers?"

"Yeah, they asked if they could make a movie about me and wanted me to sit and talk about everything. I'm not even the so called leader. If they only knew Ryo better."

"Ryo, your footballer friend?"

"Yes." She started laughing, "What's so funny?"

She stopped herself, "He was so awkward at first. I don't know whose English was worse that day; his or Martin's."

Shin gave her a smile before changing the subject, "I think that I'm going to shave the moustache off."

"Why? You look handsome with it." She sighed, "It makes you look your age too."

"I kinda want to walk around the city without people coming up to me."

"Shin, they'll bother you either way."

"You're not helping."

Handing him his share of the meal, Gabby gave him a look, "What is so wrong about this armor that you would rather hide from people? It sounds like it's a gift."

"It is, but it's a" Shin paused to think of the correct word, "Noroi. Ah, I forget the word."

His put a hand to his forehead, frustrated that he forgot the word.

"It's a pain in the ass sometimes." He finally let out, "It's like opening a history book. You get both the good and the bad stuff and everyone can read it, but no one can understand it because it only affects certain people."

Gabby laughed, "Like a bad omen or curse?"

"Yes, curse. That's the word." Shin relaxed, "I tried to get rid of it once, and something bad happened, but when I did get rid of it, I felt naked and fell into bad habits. It's hard to explain it, but having people come up to me and ask me questions makes it weirder."

The two of them spent the next few hours eating and watching the sun go down. Just before the sky became dark, Shin rolled to his side facing her.

"I've been wanting to ask you again, if you'll come to Japan with me. I was going to go in September."

Gabby frowned, "Shin, I don't know. I've never really been outside of France. I'll stick out like a sore thumb there."

"I know, but I do too." He sighed, "I'd be guiding you like you and Martin guided me around Paris the first few years being here."

"There are earthquakes, and tsunamis there. And demons. I'd be scared of them coming about that time."

"I'd keep you safe." He said, trying to hide his disappointment.

"I don't think so, Shin. I'm sorry."

Shin sighed with defeat, but then gave her a smile "It's okay. You can stay here."

"You're not angry?"

"No."

Changing the subject, Gabby gave him that devilish smile again, "Do you want to go swimming?"

"I didn't bring anything to swim in."

Sighing, Gabby sat up to take her blouse off, "You won't need anything."

"Nothing? Like naked nothing?"

"Yes, naked nothing."

Shin laid there with wide eyes, "Ugh."

"Please tell me you have gone skinny-dipping before."

"Not with members of the opposite gender. My friends and I in Japan would go all the time."

He received a glare. Thinking back to what his sister had said days earlier he swallowed his pride.

"Right, I'll just take the clothes off."

"Shin, you've seen me naked before."

"Not at a river in the countryside."

Shaking her head, she jumped in. After he surfaced, she brought him in for a kiss.

"Now, I will finish what I was doing before we were rudely interrupted by the government."

Shin only nodded and went along with her.


	33. Part 2 Ch 6

**Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"Don't do it."<p>

"I must do it."

"You'll regret it."

"I won't regret it."

"She won't like it."

"So she'll hate me for a few minutes. My sister will lecture me if I have it."

The single blade came down on his upper lip, cutting the hairs off.

Martin threw his arms up, "No! You fool!"

Laughing, Shin continued to shave the moustache and his chin. He then cleaned the rest of his face of the cream. Grabbing his shirt, he put it on and tucked it into his pants. The suspenders followed. He then wrapped his right hand with a skin tone bandage.

"If I go back to Japan with a moustache and goatee, I'll get stared at." Shin then said.

"You'll get stared at because you're wearing red plaid pants with a beige jacket." Martin crossed his arms, "You look funny."

"I look nice." Shin gave him a look, "And it's much better than your jeans and leather coat."

"I'll go put on some Rick Astley for you too."

"Ha." Shin joked.

"Never going to give you up," Martin started singing as he left the wash room.

* * *

><p>After making sure that the dog was walked, Shin and Martin met Gabby at the airport. They had lunch before Shin said goodbye. Going through customs, he received a look from the border control officer like he did coming into France years ago. Pulling out his book, Shin waited for the rest of the passengers to finish boarding. An older woman sat next to him. Some of her friends sat around her. They were obviously part of a tourist group returning home, as the older woman tried to ask him in horrible French to help with her bag. He gladly got up to life the bag for her after he spoke to her in Japanese.<p>

"Are you going there to study?" the woman asked.

"No, I'm going home to see family." He frowned after the woman gave him a look.

The rest of the flight was quiet. When he landed, he again received unfriendly looks, and even had a waitress give him a fork for his meal. Was it that obvious he had been out of Japan for a few years? He thought he was fine until he almost got hit by a car for looking the wrong way before crossing.

Walking through the doors of the Rei Fuan restaurant, he was tackled, swung around and finally bear hugged by a grinning Shu. Right after, the noggie came.

"It's good to see you too, Shu." Shin finally got out, laughing.

"Yo man, what the hell took you so long? I thought you'd never come back." Shu said, "You missed four of my birthdays and my wedding."

"Sorry. I did send you the wine."

"And it was great. Touma and his wife Carla were so funny that night."

"Is that Shin?" they heard from the back.

"Yeah Mama, Shin's back." Shu yelled.

Coming out, Mama Rei Fuan slapped Shin a couple of times on the chest, "Why did it take so long for you to come home? We missed you."

"Sorry Mama Rei Faun." Shin frowned, feeling like a little boy.

"You better not be married." She continued her lecture, "I haven't been invited."

"No mama," Shu jumped in, "He's not married yet."

"Good. Mama Rei Fuan wants an invite, you hear?"

Shin nodded.

"Come," she said, "You look like you haven't been eating well."

He was dragged to a seat and forced to sit. Shu joined him. They continued to talk until food was brought to them. As quick as it came, it was gone.

"So when can I meet her?" Shin asked.

"Jae-Hwa should be home soon. She works at one of the clothing stores in the mall." Shu answered.

"So how did you get her to date you? I remember you asking about it."

Shu laughed, "We found each other in a club actually. I offered to buy her a drink and from there we hit it off. She invited me over for a movie and I stayed the night. I was surprised to find out that she was interested too, but neither of us had the guts to say something until we had a few drinks and danced. Seiji was right that silly works. How's your girl?"

Shin sighed. He was holding his head up with one arm while looking out the window.

"I asked her to come with me, but she's afraid of leaving Europe. Other than that, we get along just dandy, but it's been off and on for a couple of years. She finally moved into my apartment last month. I want to make it more, but I want her to meet Sayoko and the rest of you guys first."

"That's rough, buddy." Shu grinned, "Ready for the anniversary party?"

"Yeah. Has it really been ten years since we defeated Arago?" Shin asked, looking at his friend.

"Ten years in back July, but I think we can celebrate it a bit late. Touma's bringing his family. Did you know he goes by Tom at work?"

Shin laughed, "He does?"

"Yeah. I called a month ago to invite him out to our party, and he answered the phone with 'Tom Hashiba.' I laughed at him for five minutes straight. Even Seiji laughed when I told him." Shu then jumped up, "We should get Ryo. He's been a couch potato since he came back from France."

"That was partly my fault." Shin frowned, "I shouldn't have let my friend Martin talk us into stair surfing with an ironing board down two flights of stairs."

"Sounds like fun."

Shin smiled, "It is almost as fun as actually surfing, but Ryo hit the rails the wrong way and flipped over them. I nearly broke my ankles jumping down to check on him. Then he missed out on what he has wanted to do."

"There's always next time." Shu said, "Come on. Let's get him before Jae-Hwa comes back. Then we can go out before heading to the mansion tomorrow."

Shu spent five minutes at Ryo's front door, pounding on it and yelling at him to get up. They both knew he was home, as Ryo yelled back that he had to get himself up.

"It's about time." Shu said as the door opened.

Seeing Shin, Ryo got into a defensive stance, "Martin isn't here with you is he?"

"No." Shin laughed, "He's on the other side of the world."

Ryo sighed with relief, "Isn't it early to head to Nasuti's mansion?"

"No silly," Shu smirked, "We're getting you out of the apartment. Shin just got in from the airport."

"Aren't you tired?"

"No, I woke up when I was tossed around like a sack of potatoes by Shu."

Ryo relaxed a bit, "Alright then. Let me get a coat and my boot thing."

Shu made a comment about Ryo's big black boot that helped him walk around. Trying to hold his laugh in, Shin failed when Ryo knock his foot against the table.

"Want some help?" Shin asked.

"Just get me out the door please."

Instead of letting Shin help, Shu picked Ryo up and walked out the door. Shin grabbed Ryo's coat and a shoe.

"Shu, did anyone ever tell you that you hide your strength very well?" Ryo commented.

"Are you trying to call me fat?"

"You do look like you gained some more weight in or around the belly area." Shin teased.

"I think it's more in the head area."

"Ryo, you do know that I am carrying you, right?"

"Yeah, you can put me down now." He said as Shin was tying his shoe.

* * *

><p>The first thing Shin noticed about Jae-Hwa was that she was quiet and polite. The second thing was that she was like that with people she was just meeting. She and Shu were soon head to head in a staring match about going downtown. When she won, she jumped into the air with joy, and then said that they could all go out. Shu sighed.<p>

Shin started having a feeling of déjà vu when they couldn't find a parking spot around the theater. Looking at the movie selection, he noticed that Lethal Weapon 4 was playing.

"I think we should find another theater to go to." He commented.

"Why?" Shu asked.

"Because last time we tried to go see a movie and couldn't find parking, we got jumped."

Ryo frowned, "We did, didn't we?"

"Yeah, and Lethal Weapon 3 was playing." Shin continued.

"Okay, what about karaoke?"

"I hate singing." Ryo said.

"I think you three should just go to a strip club." Jae-Hwa said.

The comment made Shu stop the car, and all three of the men stared at her.

"You're kidding, right?" Ryo asked.

"Of course I am. I just wanted to see what you three would do." She finally laughed, "Shu, your friends are funny."

After talking about what to do, they decided to play it safe and go bowling. Shu even got a thing for Ryo to roll the ball off of so he didn't feel left out. Later Shu would complain about every time Ryo got a good score and he managed to get only gutter balls. Shin was quietly drinking a beer before going up for his turn.

"And Fish-boy scores another strike." Shu commented after seeing Shin's goofy smile, "You must have played a lot in France."

Shin grinned, "No, it's all luck."

Shu gave Ryo a look.

"It's all luck and alcohol." Ryo said, "Shin was too busy drinking wine and throwing me off of stairs to play this game a lot."

"I didn't throw you." Shin corrected him, "I simply pushed you too hard, and I was the one to get to you first and got the ambulance."

"Excuses."

Jae-Hwa later drove them back to their apartment. Ryo slept on the couch while Shin took the floor.

* * *

><p>Shin, Shu and Ryo all agreed that Touma didn't look normal with long hair and he had continued to bleach his hair as well. For Shin and Ryo, it was like reliving their mullet days, but worse. Only Shu was brave enough to say it to his face.<p>

"Touma, you look like someone placed a mop on your head, tied it back and decided to call it a hairdo."

"You're generously proportioned in areas of the abdomen and the neck and should go for a walk." Was Touma's smart comeback.

"Dammit." Shu mumbled.

Seiji was the last one to show up. He had picked up Jun along the way. Nasuti had gone first to make the house livable for them and decide where to place people for rooming. She apologized when she put Shin, Ryo and Jun in the same room. Speaking of Jun, Shin noticed that the nineteen year old was now much taller than him.

Standing around listening to everyone greet and chat, Shin felt someone grab his ear and pull him into another room. It was an angry Seiji. It became serious when he leaned against the counter in the kitchen.

"So what made you think you could just give away our names?" he said in a monotone voice.

It didn't take long for Ryo to come in.

"What's going on?" he asked, "I saw the two of you leave."

"Ryo," Seiji said in a better tone, "I was just asking Shin why he gave our names out to the public."

"It wasn't the public." Shin said, also trying to keep the neutral tone.

"Seiji," Ryo sighed, "I asked you to not bring this up. We're supposed to be enjoying the fact that we're alive and not some demon's tools of destruction."

"What happened to your hand Shin?" Seiji's tone was changed a bit.

"It was a cooking accident."

"Bullshit it was." Seiji replied quickly.

"Seiji, can you leave him alone?" Ryo's tone was harsher.

"Negative." Seiji was now leaning at the island in the kitchen, "Shin's pretty good with knives. You don't just cut yourself unless someone was distracting you. What happened?"

"The government grabbed Gabrielle and myself after she received a warning from Nasuti. They were asking about your names and I refused to speak." Shin spoke calmly, "But the head director had other plans."

"What did he do?"

"Seiji." Ryo pleaded again, seeing Shin's change in demeanor.

"It's not important." Shin growled.

"Yes it is."

"Seiji, stop."

"What is it Shin? What did they do?" Seiji's tone was now full of impatient anger.

Grabbing a knife from the island, Shin slammed it down in between Seiji's middle and ring fingers. Seiji jumped back as Shin removed his hand from the knife.

"That, except it was in my hand." Shin growled, "And then they held me up by my feet. It's not a pleasant feeling, you know. I didn't want to tell them, but I didn't want to lose my hand either. I spoke and they dropped me."

Shu and Touma could be seen peeking in.

"Is this a bad time to get drinks?" Shu asked.

"No." Seiji said, opening the refrigerator for them.

"Why is there a knife in the counter? It doesn't do us good being there like that." Touma asked.

"Shin was showing us his new knife skills." Seiji lied.

Ryo sighed, "Seiji's questioning Shin's actions in Paris that led to our names being leaked."

"Oh dude, anyone would have done the same if his girlfriend was taken hostage. Shit, they're lucky it wasn't Shu or Ryo, or Paris would be nonexistent under layers of stone or ash." Touma said, but continued when he saw Shin's face change, "But there's more isn't there? They didn't just take her did they?"

"No." Shin unwrapped his hand to show the cut. There was a mixed response.

"Fuck, man. That looked like it hurt." Touma said.

Shu looked like he wanted to kill someone. Seiji just stood there.

"Just can't handle pressure, can you?" he spoke.

"I think I would have said anything to get out of that, Seiji. It looks painful." Touma said.

Seiji still had a face of disappointment, "You sure do know how to find trouble, Shin. Are you going to run this time or blindly get into a fight with one of us?"

Shin felt all eyes on him, "I'm doing nothing because it's going to ruin the day. Nasuti took a lot of time to cook all the food for us to just let it go to waste."

Touma gave Seiji a look, "It's my fault for everything Seiji. You can't just blame him for all of this."

He then turned and walked out. Shu followed, leaving a steaming Ryo and a somewhat pleased Seiji. His attitude changed when Ryo slammed him into the fridge and the heat from Rekka was hitting him.

"That was a dick move and you know it." Ryo said.

"Someone had to say it, because you weren't."

"No Seiji, any of us would have done the same thing he did. I saw you react to the knife slam in between your fingers. He just had it happen to him first." Ryo stopped at the door, "Not all of us are trained to be emotionless."

Looking at his ruined counter top, Seiji sighed. Those were brand new oak tops. When he walked out, no one looked his way. He then decided to head upstairs to hide.


	34. Part 2 Ch 7

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>After the harsh conversation, Shin took a seat in the living room. It was quiet and he had a place to think.<p>

"What are you doing?" he heard a small voice ask in English. Looking down, Shin saw a little girl with dark hair in piggy tails and was wearing a Pikachu shirt. She was Touma's little girl, Kimberly.

"I came in here to enjoy the quiet."

"Me too. I found this book, but I can't read it. The words are funny looking." She said joining him on the sofa.

"Your father's not teaching you Japanese."

"Nope, but I can count to ten in Spanish. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

"Uno, dos," she continued. Shin clapped for her when she finished.

"There she is." Touma said, looking like he had seen a ghost, "She wasn't bugging you, was she?"

"Nope, just counting in Spanish." Shin answered, "So you're not teaching her Japanese?"

"No." Touma said sitting down next to them, "Don't tell Seiji either because he'll try to lecture me too. He doesn't hate you though."

"Who, Seiji?"

"Yeah, he's just afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

"Being left behind." Touma sighed, "He's being like that because he's afraid that we'll all leave and forget about him. You and I have already moved out of Japan. Ryo goes everywhere to play football, and Shu could take off if he wanted to. Unlike us, he's bound to the dojo. When I told him about my new citizenship, he stopped talking to me for a while. It's really starting to bother him."

"Daddy, can you read this for me?" a small voice interrupted.

"In a moment, cutie." Touma sighed, "But it still doesn't excuse him for his behavior earlier. Seiji's going to learn that he is the one driving us apart from him. He's done it to you and me a few times, and now he's doing it to Nasuti."

"You're not going to tell him?"

"Hell no. If I gave him all the answers, he won't change. I've already warned him about it but when he does get to that state, we'll all be there to help him."

"What if it's too late?"

"Nasuti will let us know when it's too late."

"Are you sure about it?"

"No, but we'll find out when it happens. Until then, try not to stab him with a knife."

"Daddy, what's this book about?"

Touma sighed, "String theory. Why do you always pick the hardest one to translate?"

"I don't know. It's funny." The girl smiled.

"No wonder my parents abandoned me all the time." Touma looked at smirking Shin, "Wanna listen to string theory? It's a complicated mess of other dimensions bunched together in an attempt to explain the universe."

Shin nodded, "Why not. I'm not doing anything."

Minutes later, Shin was passed out from not being able to understand what Touma was reading about. Touma, himself, was yawning as he continued to read to Kimberly. It wasn't because he thought it was boring, it was that the girl didn't stop asking questions. Shin shifted in his sleep before waking up.

"Are you understanding this?"

"A little bit." Kimberly bounced, "Can we read this one next?"

"Nuclear physics? Good God girl, if I read this to you, you'll be bored in school when it does come and then I'll be bringing you home from the principal's office every day. And you're not even in Kindergarten yet. Where are your Pikachu books?" Touma sighed.

She was giggling at his rant, "In my backpack."

"Let's read about Pikachu so Shin doesn't fall asleep again."

"Okay." She jumped down onto the floor.

"What did I miss?" Shin asked in a half asleep daze.

"We're going to switch to Pikachu books. It's easier on our brains."

"Easier?" Shin yawned, "I thought I could hear my brain fry. She's going to be a trouble maker."

"Yep. I'm already planning for it too." Touma smirked, "Summer camps in Antarctica looking for penguins."

"I didn't really see many penguins when I was there."

Kimberly came running in, screaming with joy about her books. She jumped onto the couch, hitting Touma in the gut and in between the legs. Touma gave Shin a look of 'get this kid off of me.' Shin nodded and took her off of him. The giggling girl opened the book to show Shin about Pikachu as Touma crawled off the couch onto the floor and into the fetal position.

"I'm never having anymore kids." Touma let out, "It would be wise for you to do the same."

Shin laughed.

"Daddy, why are you on the floor?"

Touma couldn't answer that. Seeing Carla and Hector show up at the door, Touma let out a weak laugh that let them know that he was down for the count.

"Kimberly, ven conmigo para unas galletas. Trae tu libro."

"Si madre." The girl said jumping down from the couch.

"Ow that hurts." Touma said, slowly getting up.

Shin laughed, "Mother for the rescue."

"Yes, and I'm grateful." Touma sighed, "I suppose we should head downstairs. I smell the food."

Shin nodded and followed him out of the room. They didn't want to disappoint Nasuti. Touma was right about Seiji though. Shin noticed that while everyone was joking around and enjoying their time, Seiji was quiet. He didn't look up often, and would only answer in grunts. What Touma said was making sense the more Shin watched his friends. Ryo was talking about his football games with Hector. Touma was playing games with Kimberly. Shu was entertaining everyone else with jokes and faces. Seiji was, well, excusing himself from the table and heading back upstairs.

After their meal when it was the four of them, Shin spoke.

"How long has Seiji been depressed?"

Shu and Ryo gave him a look of shock while Touma sighed, "Since you left school to join the Maritime Agency."

"That was seven years ago."

"Yep." Shu said, "It just recently got worse when Ryo headed to France for his football thing. I'm surprised he even came here."

"Do we know why?" Shin asked quietly.

"He feels he's stuck with the dojo." Touma said, "I told you that."

"You did, but there's got to be more."

"He's jealous?" Ryo said.

"Ohh," Shu jumped up, "What if we took him on a trip?"

"I have two kids to watch, unless you feel like dealing with them." Touma said.

"My leg's still healing."

Turning to Shin, Shu gave him pleading eyebrows.

"I almost stabbed him with a knife." Shin said.

"Well then," Shu smirked, "That's our problem."

"Our lives?" Touma asked.

"Yeah." Shu smiled, "We all moved on that we forgot to bring him along. Could we all for a few days just go somewhere? Just the five of us? I mean, would it kill you Touma to leave the kids with Carla and Jae-Hwa?"

Touma laughed, "No. I'd probably enjoy the quiet."

Turning to Ryo, Shu grinned, "We can carry you anywhere, or we can find Byuaken."

"Ok."

Then finally looking at Shin, Shu laughed, "You, well, I don't know what to do to you. Maybe throwing you off of a waterfall a few times will help put out your anger."

Shin hid his face.

"What about you, tough guy?" Touma grinned, "What's your problem?"

"Dude," Shu returned the grin, "I'm a rock. I don't change."

"Until Jae-Hwa comes around with a frying pan." Ryo laughed, "Then he cowers under the bed."

"Wait until you get married, my friend. Just wait." Shu teased back.

"Okay, now we need to convince the womenfolk and Seiji." Touma said.

"Seiji's easy." Shu said, punching his hand, "Quick grab and toss into a car trunk."

"Ok, now the women?" Touma asked.

"Good luck Touma." Ryo said, putting a hand on Touma's shoulder.

"I hate you guys. I'm the worst with women." Touma frowned, "Send Shin. He practically was one at one time."

"What? Are you mad?" Shin's eyes grew wide, "Throwing any man into a meeting of women who share their complaints about us is suicide."

"Yeah, but you can do it all sneaky like." Touma said, bringing his hands up like he's behind a bush, "Crikey, there's a herd of womenfolk. Now if I can just remember how to speak their language, maybe I can gain their trust and then they won't devour me with their sharp tongues and deadly fingernails."

Shin crossed his arms, "That's not me at all."

Touma sighed, "You've never seen the Crocodile Hunter, have you?"

"Some of us don't have American TV." Shin answered watching Touma pout, "Fine, I'll go convince them."

After Shin left, Touma looked at the other two, "I give him two words before they reject him."

Shu shook his head, "You have to give Shin more credit than that. I give him the entire question and a sigh."

Shu and Touma turned to Ryo for his thoughts.

"What?"

"Your thoughts, fearless leader?" Touma asked.

"Eh," Ryo said preferring not to answer.

"Ryo, you're not fun."

"You're asking me to anticipate that our friend will fail. Again."

"That was the point." Shu said.

Ryo rubbed his chin before speaking, "Shin's going to get the question out, and Nasuti will say something nice but Carla's going to kick him out of the room for even thinking that she'll let Touma take off and leave the kids with her."

"Dammit," Touma frowned, "You're thoughts sound too true."

"What can I say?" Ryo grinned, "I'm the fearless leader. I'm supposed to know these things."

It was another few minutes before someone spoke up. Shu announced that he was getting a bit worried that they hadn't heard anything.

"Do you think they ate him?"

"No idea."

When the trio poked their heads into the next room, Shin was sitting behind Kimberly braiding her hair and talking about pottery and redecorating houses. Nasuti had a magazine open and was showing them all when she thought would fit for the mansion.

"I don't understand," Touma spoke, "Carla's not biting his head off. I swear she hates all men."

"We should have sent Ryo in." Shu said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Touma said, "I bet he made a deal."

"A deal, huh?" Shu commented, "That would make sense."

They heard one of the women sigh. Touma gulped when Carla turned to look at them.

"Shin, I think you're missed." She said.

Shin turned and laughed. He finished the last braid before the little girl jumped up and gave him a hug. After he got up to join his friends.

"Traitor." Touma growled.

"What? I've lived with women for a long time." Shin grinned, "It's too bad you feel that way though, because Carla didn't have a problem with letting you go out."

Touma didn't believe him, but didn't further question him.

* * *

><p>When Touma woke up the next day, he checked the clock. Eleven-forty, not too bad he thought, especially because no one woke him up. He walked out of his shared bedroom and towards the washroom to shave and shower. Passing Seiji, he heard his friend try to hide his laugh.<p>

"What?"

"Nothing." Seiji said. The blonde turned away.

Closing the door, Touma gave the blonde a glare. Then a loud scream was heard throughout the house. Touma stormed out to find his wife quietly drinking her coffee with the others. Shin was hiding his face in his cup. To top it all off, there was a flash from a camera. Jun then held the camera up to look at the photo coming out.

"Perfect." Jun smiled.

"Daddy, Shin taught me how to braid hair." Kimberly was heard, "Now you look pretty like mommy."

"Oh Shin dear," Touma said, sounding as sweet and innocent as he could, "Can we speak privately?"

"Oh Touma, you're my dream man." Shu was heard.

Shin gave Carla a look before following his angry friend. Laughter soon filled the room, leaving the four year old girl confused as to what was going on.

"Is Touma going to kill Shin?" Hector asked.

"He might." Carla laughed.

Seiji walked down the stairs shaking his head again. It wasn't long until high pitch yelps were heard and Touma came down with a shorter, uneven hair style. His little girl was the first to express her disappointment with a pout.

"Daddy, I worked hard on your hair." Her arms were crossed in front of her.

When Shin came down, he was rubbing his head. He and Touma now had the same hair cut and look on their face.

Now sitting at the table, Seiji quietly commented about the two, "So the scissors won?"

"Yeah." Shin answered.

"No." Touma said, "It was a fair fight between Fish-boy and myself."

"Biting my hand is not a fair fight."

"Says the man who used to spray us with the hose after getting a royal beating in sparring matches." Seiji added.

"You all were going to tie me to a tree," Shin rolled his eyes, "Upside-down and only in my underwear."

"When was all of this?" Nasuti leaned to the side to ask Shu.

"After the first time we beat Arago." Shu grinned, "Shin was on a losing streak with sparring all of us. I think you and Jun went out shopping that day."

"Oh, well that explains the rope in the trees."

* * *

><p>Watching the others pack the old jeep up, Seiji knew something was up. He heard Nasuti struggling with something and went to see what it was. She was trying to carry a bag down the stairs.<p>

"Let me get it." Seiji told his six month pregnant wife.

Smiling behind his back, Nasuti watched him walk out and into the trap that was waiting for him. When the blonde placed the bag in the jeep, he was quickly jumped on by Shu and Touma. Shin came around with rope and they then tied him to his seat.

"Thanks Nasuti." Touma waved.

"Just don't beat him up too much. I need him to help me with the baby's room."

"Got it." Touma smirked.

Letting out some words there were un-Seiji like, the warrior of light watched Touma unroll the duct tape and place some on his mouth.

"Do we have everything?" Ryo asked, sitting up front.

"Sleeping bags, check; food for a couple days, check;" Shu went through the list, "Very angry warrior of light who might kill us in our sleep, check. Looks like everything."

Sitting next to Seiji, Shin gave him a sad smile.

"Oh, forgot something." He said before placing the seatbelt around him, "There, wouldn't want you to fall out."

Seiji went on another rambling of words.

"It's all good, Seiji. We're getting you out of the house like old times." Shu said, starting the jeep.

"Yep," Touma grinned giving Seiji a light punch in the shoulder, "Just like old times."

Seiji rolled his eyes, and leaned back into the seat. He had a feeling something was going to go wrong.


	35. Part 2 Ch 8

**Warning, there's lots of drinking in this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The jeep had stopped off the side of the road. Shu and Ryo had spent a few minutes arguing as to where they were before Shu pulled over so Touma could look at the map. Starring at it for a long time, Touma sighed, and put it down.<p>

"You two had the map upside-down."

"What," Ryo glanced at it, "I swear it was upright."

Touma grinned, "I'm teasing. We're right here."

He was pointing to a place near Mt. Fuji. Ryo gave him a look, before turning to Shu and showing him.

"Sweet," Shu said, "Is Seiji buckled in?"

"He is." Shin responded.

Shu then took the old jeep onto a dirt road. The jeep spun around at the end of the road, tossing everyone around before stopping right as the grass turned into beach.

"Lake party, here we come."

"Speaking of lake parties," Touma said getting out of the jeep. He headed straight towards an unsuspecting Shin and threw him into the water.

"Swim little fishy." Touma laughed.

Shin came back up coughing up water, "You always throw me in."

"Are you guys going to untie me?" Seiji asked, finally getting the tape off his mouth.

Ryo laughed, as he undid the knots. Seiji rubbed his arms real quick before pushing Shin back into the water as he was climbing the bank.

Coming up coughing again, Shin then yelled, "What was that for?"

"Ruining my new counter tops and tying me up." Seiji said before giving him a grin.

Shin snorted as he attempted to climb the bank again. He was stopped short by Shu.

"Sorry, everyone else did it." Shu laughed as Shin cursed at him.

Ryo lend his hand to help Shin up.

"What?" Ryo asked when Shin was hesitant about taking it, "You think I want you to give me a wet hug?"

"They seem to forget that that's what happens next." Shin laughed. He then took off to shake the water off of him and onto the other three.

Ryo shook his head as Touma became melodramatic with Shin hugging him.

"Help, I'm getting raped by a wet man. He tried to kill me earlier with scissors."

"Touma, I can't say that you didn't deserve it." Ryo said.

"I'm impressed that Shin shook himself like a dog to get the water off." Seiji said, trying to push the wet warrior away, "You smell like wet dog."

As Shin went to give Shu the same punishment, he got a surprise instead. Shu grabbed his head and gave him a kiss and held him there. Shin threw up his arms in protest to push himself away.

"Our 'cheer up Seiji' party just turned gay." Ryo sighed.

Touma nodded, "We haven't even opened the beer yet."

Seiji sighed, "We brought alcohol?"

"Yep." Touma smiled holding a bottle, "He's going to need this to clean his mouth with."

Gladly taking the bottle, Shin gave Shu a nasty look before chugging it down quickly.

"Shu, what did you eat?" Shin said, before opening another.

"Kimchi." Shu grinned, "Tastes wonderful doesn't it?"

Shin still had a disgusted look on his face, "You ate something else."

Shu paused, "I did have that bean dip and chips. Oh, and the jerky and pickles."

The other three headed back towards the jeep as Shin turned a shade of green. He heard Touma yell something about drinking the two beers and wasting them if he threw up.

"Shin, you going to be okay?" he heard Ryo call out.

Now on his knees, Shin gave Ryo a thumbs-up. After a bit, Shin stood up and gave Shu another look before getting a fire going. Minutes later, Shin turned the cooking over to Shu. He changed his clothes before returning to the campsite. Then he flopped to the ground, listening to everyone else talk about the plans they had for the next day.

"Yeah, if I get Byauken to show up, I'll hide the flag." Ryo said, "But until then, it may just be a fight until everyone quits."

"So wait," Seiji frowned, "The plan tonight is to get so drunk that we all have hangovers so bad that trying to make plans to ambush each other becomes a difficult task?"

"Yep." Touma smiled, "Simulates body and mind stress."

"Sounds dumb." Seiji shook his head, "We might as well not eat tonight."

"Not eat?" Shu yelled, "You sir, are crazy."

"I second that." Shin added, putting a hand up in the air.

"Here buddy," Touma laughed, "You need another."

Shin felt the bottle hit him, "It's all shaken up."

"Better chug it then."

"I hate you guys. Why am I the only one drinking?"

"Because once you jump into the water, you'll feel better." Touma said, "So drink up. We're teammates tomorrow."

"So how is having a bad hangover and fighting each other a 'cheering Seiji up' party?" Seiji looked at Touma and Ryo.

"Simple." Touma said, opening a bottle for him and Ryo, then they hit each others, "Cheers. Seiji, you'll enjoy tonight if you just go with the plan."

"Go with the flow." Shin added.

"You all are immature fools." Seiji sighed.

"Et vous êtes un imbécile coincé." The red head responded.

"Shin," Shu poked him, "Japanese please. We don't understand that language."

"Stop giving me beer."

"Here's another." Touma smirked.

"Thanks." Shin sitting up, "Hey."

"Drink up, lightweight."

"I am not!"

* * *

><p>Seiji spent the next few hours watching Shin, Touma and Shu make fools out of themselves. Ryo was simply listening to their odd topics, while trying to think of what to say to Seiji to get him to lighten up. But he didn't have to when Seiji spoke.<p>

"Whose idea was it again to come out here?"

"Shu suggested it." Ryo said, "We've all just noticed a few things about that we're worried about."

Seiji snorted, "Like what?"

"Picking a fight with Shin when it was uncalled for."

"He gave the world our names. Do you know how many people are constantly bothering me about the armor?"

"Don't you think we all get bothered?" Ryo said shifting around to face his friend, "But this isn't about what happened. This is about making sure you're fine."

"I'm out in the woods with three drunken men and one with a broken leg. Of course I'm not fine."

"Years ago, you were a drunken teen with four other drunken teens."

"We grew up and had families. This is ridiculous."

"Is it really? Touma told me that you and Nasuti are fighting."

Seiji turned his head, "Her work takes her away a lot, so I'm stuck at home taking care of everything and the dojo. Soon I'll have a child to take care of as well. Yayoi's moved away, and Satsuki is about to leave now that she's done with school."

They both heard snoring coming from where Shu was. Touma was also passed out and Shin seemed to be close, as he was quietly singing to himself.

"Shin, are you awake?"

"J'ai besoin d'crier que je t'aime" he was mumbling some song.

"He'll be out in a few minutes." Seiji said.

"Yep." Ryo then went back to what he was meaning to ask, "Have you asked Nasuti if you can go with her on her trips?"

"Ryo, what are you getting at?"

"I'm just making sure you're fine."

Seiji took at glance at the stars above, "No. I'm not fine. I'm guessing that you want me to tell you why."

Ryo nodded.

"Well, here it goes then." Seiji paused, "I don't want to work at the dojo anymore. I see that everyone has gone somewhere and doing what they want to do instead of what their family wants them to do. When Shin joined the Maritime Agency, I wanted to go with him because it was something he wanted to do. No one pressured him. He was happy jumping out of helicopters and dating my sister. And then Touma went to California. I wanted to go there too. He became a wild child, not caring about anything but school and things that he wouldn't have done here."

"You would have smoked marijuana with Touma?"

"Hell yeah I would have if I had the chance." Seiji said, "But I'm stuck with the damn dojo."

"You gave him a lecture every time he talked about it."

"Because I wasn't having fun listening to him." Seiji sighed, "I went to one of your games when you played in Sendai."

"You did?"

"Yeah, it was fun watching it. The next day though, my grandfather was angry with me. I cleaned the entire place until he was happy with it."

"So what do you want to do?" Ryo asked.

"I want to buy a damn rally car and race it." Seiji smiled, "With Touma's help, we could build a good one."

"So do it already!" they heard someone say.

Ryo and Seiji gave each other a look.

"Was that Touma?" Ryo asked.

"I have no idea." Seiji sat up to look.

Sure enough, Touma was sitting up, looking at the bottles lying around him.

"Get a damn rally car." Touma continued before laying back down, "Or I swear, I'll throw you into the lake. This whole 'I have a dojo killing me' excuse is getting old."

"Someone didn't drink enough." Seiji smiled.

"Someone isn't drinking. You think that I'm going to have a hangover if you don't? Shin and I are going to win this, and you and Shu are going to drinking lake water."

"Ha." Seiji laughed, "Let's see which one of them walks in the morning. Shin drank more and he's skinny. Shu's fatness will help me tomorrow."

"Only if he can go without eating tomorrow."

Ryo gave them both a look, "So you're going to compete?"

Staring at his friend, Seiji smirked, "Yeah I am. Hand me a beer. I'm supposed to be having fun."

Touma grinned as he opened another one for himself.

* * *

><p>When Shin felt his side being kicked, he opened his eyes. Touma was already in his armor, ready to duke it out against Seiji and Shu.<p>

"Come on Fish-boy, we have a flag to find."

"My head's ringing."

"Your ears will be too, if we lose." Touma dropped something on Shin's head, "Eat that and armor up."

Looking around, Shin noticed they were not by the lake at all. Grabbing the piece of jerky that was dropped on his head, he took one sniff of it and had to go throw up.

"Hmm, can't have you throwing up as you look for the flag." Touma said, before pulling something out, "Here, drink this."

"Are you trying to kill me?" Shin asked, "It's vodka."

"Drink it. You're not sober anyways."

Shin took a sip before coughing. Although he didn't like it, it did lessen the headache. He wrapped the string of the flask around his shoulder.

"Now eat the jerky and armor up."

"Why am I looking for the flag?"

"Because knowing Seiji, he and Shu are going to be close together." Touma smiled, "I'll be following you in some undisclosed distance."

"That makes me feel better."

"Hey, you just have to handle Seiji and Shu long enough for me to sneak up on them."

Shin was a bit skeptical about his plan, because Touma had always used him as bait every time they were paired together. And sometimes, Shin knew that Touma would be late to come into the fight. Putting his armor on, Shin started in the direction Touma pointed. On the way, Shin decided to cover his armor with mud. Light blue and silver stuck out in the woods and from the training he had years ago, being seen was not what he wanted.

Stopping for a quick drink at a stream, Shin could hear someone curse from his left. He knew it was Shu, and knowing Seiji, he wasn't far behind.

"Damn drinking games, damn hangover, damn hungry stomach." Shu continued cursing everything, "What does this flag look like?"

"It's checkered." Shin heard Seiji off to his right.

Sticking his trident into the ground, Shin prepared to move the water from the stream. Watching Seiji, Shin heard Shu trip. Using that moment, Shin attacked with the stream at Seiji. Caught unprepared, Seiji was pushed back, allowing Shin to sneak up on Shu.

"Shu, Shin's around." Seiji yelled out, looking for the warrior of water.

He knew that Touma was probably going after the flag like the sneaky, greedy bastard he was. But now, he had to worry about Shin, who he couldn't see until Shu jumped up and collided with him.

"Shin, you sneaky bastard." Shu said, having a strength match against Shin, "You covered your armor in mud."

Breaking out of the match, Shin spun the weapon around to trip Shu, before swinging at the incoming Seiji. The warrior of light jumped over his attack, and swung at him as he landed. Shin fell forward onto Shu who pushed him back towards Seiji. Levering his trident into Shu's spear, he was able to push himself back, kicking Seiji with his feet, before throwing Shu into the warrior of light.

"Shu get off." Seiji yelled, pushing him off.

"Sorry."

Getting up, Shin was nowhere in sight. Cursing to himself, he closed his eyes to listen for him instead. Behind him, Shu was throwing up whatever was left in his stomach. The fight and last night's drinking were beating him.

Feeling the effects of the night before, Shin took the chance to gather his breath and stomach contents. With the headache coming back, Shin wasn't feeling good either. Grabbing the flask, Shin was grateful for Touma's odd choice in liquor, but he still needed to drink some water to fully sober up. But that was delayed by an attacking Seiji. Missing the sword, Shin was caught in the face by a clothes line. Finally recovering, Shu came sprinting over.

"Where's Touma?" Seiji asked.

"I don't know; he's probably grabbing the flag." Shin sighed.

"You don't know how right you are." They heard Touma.

The warrior of air was in a tree waving the flag around.

"You dirty son of a bitch." Shu yelled.

Seiji sighed as Shin let his head fall to the ground. He knew that he was the bait, again.

"Smell you two later," Touma said, "I have a flag to return."

He then headed off into another direction. Shu and Seiji began to chase after him. Swinging his trident around, Shin caught them both in the ankles tripping them. He then got up to follow his teammate. Seiji and Shu spent the next ten minutes chasing them until they both crashed into a stopped Shin. Looking up, all three were looking at a tourist bus that had stopped to view Mt. Fiji. With both parties having a stare down, neither knew what to do next until one tourist took a picture of them. Then a wave of flashes followed along with conversations of seeing the men with the magical armor. Getting up, Seiji turned around to head back down the hill. Shin gave them a smile and a wave before being dragged off by Shu.

Now lost, the trio stopped for a break. They were in their underarmor, sitting under the trees talking about what they were going to do to Touma when they saw him next.

"Did you know that Touma named his girl after the Pink Power Ranger?" Seiji said, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"What?" Shu smirked.

"Think about it." Seiji started, "Her name is Kimberly Amy Hashiba. The actress isn't even that pretty."

Shu spat out, "Are you blind? She's a babe."

"Swing!"

"Thanks Shin."

"No problem."

Seiji shook his head, "That's not the point."

Shu shrugged him off, "Touma's a smart guy, it's just when it comes to being creative he lacks something."

"Right?" Shin added, "He did the same plan we used last time we did these games and we still won."

Shin received a face full of dirt from Seiji.

"He used you."

"I'm used to being used."

Shu grinned, "Then get over here, you big slut. I have a headache you can get rid of."

"No thanks." Shin gave him a look, before looking at the flask, "Here; if he abandoned us, we can at least drink all of his vodka."

"Nothing like more alcohol for breakfast." Seiji added.

Shu snorted, "You're not hung-over."

"Neither is Shin." Seiji threw back.

"What are you talking about?" Shin grinned, "I'm still drunk from last night. Suiko's the one that is sober."

"Suiko doesn't control you."

"And I'm grateful for that, but Suiko does a good job of controlling the liquor."

Shu then thought of a nasty idea, "So if Suiko keeps you sober, you could drink all of that and still make it back to camp."

"If you think I'm going to finish this flask, you're crazy."

"Lightweight." Shu sang.

Shin thought about it for a moment. He knew that it was a bad idea, but hey, they were on a crazy camping trip right?

"Fine." Shin grinned, "I finish this flask, and if I can get back to camp without you two carrying me, you two get to jump into the lake after the sun goes down."

"And if you can't?" Shu asked.

"He admits that he's a lying, lightweight slut to Touma." Seiji said, "That is, after you kiss him with Suiko on."

Shu grinned, "He's not going to do it."

"Come on Shin," Seiji egged him on, "Drink the vodka."

Shin swallowed his pride, "My liver is going to hate me."

Uncapping the flask, Shin plugged his nose. Seiji had to turn away because while he was chugging it, Shin started to go pale. Shu's headache became worse watching it. Shin finished, throwing the flask to the ground.

"What did they teach you in France?" Shu asked.

Coughing, Shin tried to answer, but couldn't stop the fit to. He felt like throwing his guts out, but he didn't want to lose this one.

"Shin, you okay?" Seiji asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah." Shin finally got out, "Vodka's not really something to chug."

"Okay then," Shu said getting up, "Let's try to find our way back to camp."

As part of the deal, Shin put Suiko back on. Seiji offered to carry the weapon, but Shin shook his head.

* * *

><p>It was about noon when Touma, Ryo and Byauken found the trio. Ryo and Touma gave Shin a strange look.<p>

"What's wrong with you?" Touma asked.

Seiji responded by throwing the flask at him.

"That was expensive." Touma shouted, "You guys, that was supposed to last me until the flight home."

"Well, now Shin is seeing if Suiko can stop the effects of alcohol." Seiji grinned, "How you feeling Shin?"

"Someone kill me, please?" he was using his weapon to lean on.

"I give him another minute until he passes out." Seiji said, "Then we'll have to find a body of water to throw him in so he doesn't get poisoned from the alcohol."

"That's kinda pushing the power of the armors." Ryo added, then turned to Shin, "Dude, just puke it out."

"Come on Shin," Shu grinned, "Do it."

Nodding, Shin stuck his finger down his throat.

"I hate you all." Shin spat out.

Grabbing a bottle of water, Ryo hobbled over to hand it to him. Shin gladly took it.

"Do it Shin, you lost our bet." Shu shouted.

Shin gave him the finger before saying what he was supposed to. Then doing what Shu did the day before, grabbed Touma's face. Ryo sighed, knowing very well that everyone was a bit crazy.

"Oh Shin!" Touma reacted, "I didn't think you could make me shiver all over!"

Touma gave him the same treatment. Shin then hit him in the face.

* * *

><p>Later that night after everyone was calm and more sober, Ryo made a speech about the ten years they've known each other and how their bond wasn't going to break even if they moved away from each other. Then Touma proposed that Seiji needed to take Nasuti out on a date when they got back.<p>

"Haircut." Shu added.

"Why?" Seiji asked.

"Because you have had that same style forever." Shin spoke, "Try something new."

"Yeah," Touma grinned, "If you can give her the same feeling Shin gave me earlier, the two of you will be fine taking care of each other and the baby. The haircut will just add to it."

Touma then felt a rock hit him in the head.

Seiji crossed his arms, "I look fine."

"Ten years ago."

"Shut up Touma. Your hair styles haven't looked good in a long time."

After a long argument, Seiji gave up. He would let them cut his hair, and after seeing Shin pull the scissors out of the jeep, he felt scared. Like they were going to do it whether he liked it or not.


	36. Part 2 Ch 9

**Here's the next one. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>It was early in the morning when Shin went for a swim. After all the craziness, he felt that he needed to relax before heading west towards Yamaguchi. While the others didn't care if they all drank themselves into a stupor, Sayoko would. Thinking about home, Shin knew that it was going to be odd. He was a bit afraid of not fitting in as everyone else changed. Not to mention recently added family. He didn't really know what his niece liked so he bought a stuffed toy hedgehog. Well, Gabby found it for him and the toy was adorable. Taro had talked about knights in armor, so he bought quite a few of those.<p>

"Shin." he heard Seiji call.

Swimming back to the beach, he saw that Seiji was sitting with two cups of something warm.

"You know," Seiji said as Shin was walking out of the water, "I think I remember a certain someone saying that he wasn't going to wear a speedo ever again."

Looking down, Shin laughed.

"Towel?"

"Yeah." Shin said, sitting down.

"Tea?"

"Thanks."

"So," Seiji started, running his hand threw his recently cut hair, "I want to apologize for my behavior, for the past few years."

Shin grinned, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And thanks for taking care of Nasuti when she was over in Paris."

"It wasn't a problem. You know any of us would have done the same."

"I know." Seiji sighed, "So you think Nasuti will like the haircut?"

Shin smiled, "She will, and if she doesn't then we'll just have to shave the rest off."

Seiji gave him a look.

"I'm kidding." Shin laughed, "You look fine. She'll want to steal you away for a few hours."

"It has been a while since the two of us went out."

"Take her out then."

Seiji laughed, "I thought that I'd never get marriage advice from a man in a speedo."

Turning red, Shin laughed.

"Seiji." They heard from behind. It was Shu.

"Touma's completely out."

Turning to Shin, Seiji grinned, "Want to help? He did leave you to fight us both."

Shin grinned, "I'm in."

* * *

><p>When Touma woke, he noticed that there was quite a breeze blowing by. Then he noticed that he was duct taped and tied to the roof of the jeep. No matter how much he screamed and yelled, no one heard him. When they pulled up to the mansion, Seiji, Shu and Shin got out to look at what was still there, glaring at them.<p>

"He looks angry." Shin said.

"Yep, well, if he played the game the way he was supposed to, he'd be free." Seiji grinned.

Ryo hobbled over to look as well, "Should we let him go?"

"No." Seiji quickly responded, "Carla needs to see this and then we need to throw him into the lake."

"You evil bastards! I swear when I get out, I'll get on such a sugar high, that even your ancestors will need to jump off a bridge into hell to get away."

"Nah, I think we'll leave him there for a bit." Shu said, turning to go greet his running wife.

Carla and the kids soon came out. Carla laughed at Touma's situation, while both kids asked why he was tied to the roof. Taking the chance, Shin nudged Seiji to head inside before the house became crazy. Jun had a look of relief when he finally came out.

"Man, I hate kids." Jun said, "They're such a pain to watch. Hector wouldn't stop following me around for the days you were gone, and then when I'd play video games, he'd sit there and cheer."

Shin and Ryo looked at each other. Shin had a smile form, and Ryo just busted out laughing. Shin then joined him.

"What?" Jun's tone became angrier.

Trying to explain, Ryo couldn't help but continue to laugh at the young man.

"Good one, Jun." Shin said walking into the mansion.

Ryo patted him on the back, "Welcome to our world."

"What, I wasn't that bad."

"Hey Ryo, remember when you slapped him because he was getting weird?" Touma yelled.

"Or how he'd cheer us on while getting in the way?" Shu added.

"Jun," Ryo smiled, patting his again on the back, "Pay back is a bitch."

"A fat slutty one." Touma yelled. He was then slapped by Carla for yelling that in front of the kids.

Once everyone started heading inside, Touma wanted to remind them that he was still tied to the jeep.

"I shoulda been a cowboy!" he started yelling, "Shoulda learned to rope and ride!"

"Tom, can you be quiet for once?" Carla asked. Ryo and Jun laughed as they still couldn't see their friend as 'Tom.'

"Negative." he smiled.

It started to downpour when the other four decided to bring Touma into the house. And while the weather was the biggest reason for bringing him, Shin didn't want Seiji to get pulled over for having a man taped to the jeep as he was being taken to the train station.

"So what did Nasuti say about the hair?" Shin asked.

"Nothing, she kept staring into my eyes. It was odd, but then I realized that she had the biggest grin on her face. The others want to go out to a nice restaurant tonight." Seiji said, "Too bad you're leaving early."

Shin nodded, "I know, but Sayoko wanted me to stay for a while. I'm guessing it's to help around the shop a bit."

"Hmm." Seiji hummed before reaching back and grabbing something, "Nasuti said to give Naomi this. She saw the hedgehog you brought, and decided to help you."

Looking at the toy, Shin frowned. It was a Hello Kitty doll.

"She likes Hello Kitty? Do they still talk to each other?"

"Yeah, Nasuti, Yayoi and your sister talk a lot."

"Well, want a hedgehog? It's cute and cuddly and almost looks like you."

Seiji laughed, "No, I'm sure one of the two will like the hedgehog."

Shin leaned back into the seat, hugging the Hello Kitty, "I'm such a bad uncle."

"I think you'll be fine. Bring them some candy and run out of the house. They'll love you; Sayoko, not so much."

Shin nodded.

"Yayoi and her man are over there. He's some musician for a symphony."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Have fun with that."

Pulling up to the station, they said their goodbyes.

"Oh," Seiji added, "There's this thing called email. Touma says you should get one. He's been consistent in making us all get one."

"Yeah, I need a computer first. Enjoy the rest of your vacation with the others." He said before shutting the door and giving a quick wave.

* * *

><p>It was late in the evening when Shin walked along the street that he thought his sister lived on. He was a bit anxious and tired from carrying his old green duffel bag. The last time they had talked, she mentioned that they had moved into a bigger place. He just didn't think it was going to be in a better side of town that he didn't know very well. Sitting next to a street light, he wished that he had a mobile phone on him.<p>

"Mental note to get one." Shin told himself, "At least it's warm outside."

Getting up, he spotted a phone booth. After a brief teasing, Sayoko told him that he needed to walk further down the block where the lights were fewer. Looking down the street, he then saw where the new block started. Sayoko was on the front steps waving at him. He was going to receive an earful on this.

"Everyone loses their way here the first time." Sayoko laughed as she gave him a hug.

"What happened to the old place?"

"A certain brother became famous with drowning Paris, and people started buying pottery that belongs to certain brother's family." Sayoko said, "That and the household keeps gaining members."

"Oh. That was about three months ago." Shin replied, not knowing how to take her comment.

"Amazing how news travels fast." She said, opening the door for him, "Ryuusuke is out on a job. He won't be home for a good while and Yayoi and her fiancé are staying for a week. He has some concert to perform in."

"What a shame. I was eager to hear Ryuusuke's insults." Shin said, "And the kids?"

"Hiding somewhere." Her tone changed, knowing that Taro was peeking from another room, "I'm surprised they haven't come running out yet."

Taking their cue, Taro came bolting out with Naomi walking out, "Uncle Shin!"

Remembering what had happened to Touma from crazy running kids, Shin turned himself before being hit. Even if he was small, Taro hit him pretty hard. Shin gave his sister a look. She replied by laughing.

"He's so big." Shin coughed out.

"Mother says that you fought in a war." He commented.

Shin gave her a look, "Which war is this?"

"Suiko's." Sayoko answered, "He saw the fight in Paris on TV."

"Can you teach me? Please Uncle Shin?"

"Yes," Shin sighed, "I can."

Naomi stood behind Sayoko, watching Shin. She didn't walk over to him until he brought out the Hello Kitty doll. And she didn't walk, it was a quick run.

"You're pretty." She then told him.

"Pretty?"

"She calls everyone pretty." Sayoko explained, laughing at her brother's confused look.

She then started to round up the kids for bed. Knowing her son, he would not want to wake up now that it was way past his bedtime. When the bag of knights came out, she knew that he wouldn't want to go to school either.

"Come on," She said, "Uncle Shin will still be here in the morning."

After the kids were in their bedroom, Shin said good night and headed to his room. He knew that the next day was going to be interesting as he had Naomi to watch while everyone else was away. When he didn't know was that he was going to be rudely wakened in the morning.


	37. Part 2 Ch 10

**Here's the next one. It's a complete 180 from the last few chapters, but I hope you all enjoy it.**

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><p>Shin found it weird that his hair was moving. If he was in France, he'd suspect Gabby or the dog, but he wasn't in France. Turning, he saw Naomi sitting next to him who was now giggling and saying something about his hair being red. She startled him, causing him to roll off the bed onto the floor. Now that he was on the floor, he did a quick check to make sure he was decent, which he found that he was. Sighing with relief, he looked again at the giggling three year old. He swore that he had locked the door the night before.<p>

"You're up early." He finally said.

"Mommy said wake Uncle Shin up."

"Did she say why?"

"She go to work."

Shin sighed, "Give me five minutes and we'll go out."

She jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. Sighing, he dressed himself and walked out. The girl was sitting on the floor with her toys when he found her. He then went to the kitchen to grab food. Getting what he wanted, he turned and bumped into Naomi. She fell and started to pout.

"No, don't cry." Shin said, not knowing what to do with a crying child, "I'm sorry."

And she continued to cry. Not knowing what to do, Shin did what he thought was the best idea. He called Touma.

"What did you do?"

"She followed me and I turned and she fell over. I said I was sorry."

He heard Touma sigh, "Shin, you can't expect a kid to stop after saying sorry."

"Well, what do I do?"

"Have you picked her up and tried to calm her down?"

"No."

"Try that."

Shin then followed his friend's hints. After settling her down, Shin thanked him.

"Geez Shin, I thought out of all of us, you'd be good with kids. You handled Kimberly pretty well."

"I don't have any, and your kid is easy. Give her a book and she stops everything to read it." Shin snorted, "Do I have to keep reminding you?"

"No. I just like bringing that stuff up to piss you off. It's funny." He then stopped laughing, "But seriously, you can't reason with kids. Just be the uncle and spoil her."

"Sayoko will hate me for that."

"That's why you live in another country, Boy-chama."

Shin sighed. He then felt his pants' leg being pulled on. Her small voice was asking for something to drink. After giving Touma one last insult, Shin got her a glass of water before starting breakfast. He soon found that Naomi wanted to eat too, because he was going to eat. He ended up making Hello Kitty pancakes for her, which she then told him that pancakes were awesome and that she had never eaten them before. Naomi then thought it would be funny to try and run her hands through his hair while covered in syrup. So he threw her into the bath. As she splashed around, he took the chance to wish his hair in the sink.

"Uncle Shin, I done." She said standing up.

Feeling awkward, Shin had covered his eyes when she stood, "Let me find you a towel."

He blindly felt around to find one. Then his leg felt wet.

"You're silly." She said, hugging him.

Finding his shirt, he quickly put it on her to cover her up. Then she took off.

"Wait," he yelled after her, "You need to get dressed."

Then he heard it. The one word he didn't feel like hearing at the time.

"Mommy!"

"Oh no." he mumbled.

"Why are you wet and wearing Shin's shirt?" he heard Sayoko say coming in the door.

"I took bath. Uncle Shin is silly."

"I see." She said, giving him a look, "Can't handle a three year old girl, brother?"

Shin gave her an awkward smiled, "I guess not."

"Well, I'll get her dressed for you and then you can take her outside to play." She grinned, "And you'll probably want a shirt on before you head out. It's cold today."

Shin hummed, heading to his temporary room. She always knew how to poke at him with words. And the shit-eating grin he got as she handed her Naomi made him feel even more like an idiot. So he needed a safety blanket, again.

"Touma, what do little girls like to do when they're out and about?"

Tenku gave him an evil laughed, "You poor soul. I don't know how you survived living with Sayoko and your mother."

Shin sighed. He knew calling Touma again was going to be brutal.

"Older women are easier to figure out."

"Yeah, I watched you tame Carla." Touma laughed, "But remember this about little girls: sugar, spice and everything nice, but don't forget that they are greedy little bastards when you take them out to the store."

"What does that mean?"

"Look through your old kids photos from about twenty years ago. All of your answers are there."

Shin paused, wondering why letting Touma live with his family was ever a good idea.

"Dresses, candy and looking pretty." Shin mumbled, "I think I got it this time."

"Good," Touma sighed, "Now stop calling me. I'm trying to get Seiji to go out with me to a science fair and you keep interrupting it. I'm almost out of duct tape because he keeps getting out of it."

"You're not wrapping it around him correctly then."

"That's what she said."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. If you were a real woman, you wouldn't be able to resist my charm. Libras and Pisces get along very well. You're the unicorn to my atom."

Shin sighed as he hung up the phone. He had to stop with he heard Seiji in the background add his two cents about not letting a Pisces steal his Libra.

"Uncle Shin!" he heard a screech from behind him, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Okay, maybe taking her out to watch the ducks wasn't such a bad idea. Shin got to sit under a tree while the girl played with a bit of water and cute birds. Nothing a Mori couldn't handle, right? She had some bread to toss to them and watching the ducks chase it made her laugh. Then she ran out of bread and decided to throw rocks. Shin had to quickly get up to tell her not to, which made her mad. Now instead of being the cool uncle, he was an asshole. He was never having kids. Never.<p>

Now carrying her on his shoulders, he was receiving an endless head rub as Naomi kept running her hands through his hair. The words red and soft were heard over and over. His nice, neat part became a bunch of fluffy spikes.

"You have a weird obsession with my hair, don't you?"

"Red." She giggled before kicking him with the heel of her feet, "Giddy-up!"

"Ow, the kicking hurts."

He just received more kicks, in which he retaliated with bringing her around and carrying her upside-down until she stopped kicking. Shin then placed her on his hip and carried her back towards the house. He tried to ignore the looks he was receiving for carrying her oddly, but Naomi made it hard for some to not comment.

Walking in the front door, Shin gently tossed her onto the sofa which she then tried to jump on him. It soon became a game of him pushing her to her bottom and she would try to jump on him. Shin quickly became sick of it and sat down, pinning her in between the couch and his back. They sat like that until Sayoko came home with Taro. Knowing her brother's looks well, Sayoko knew he was slightly angry with something. Seeing the look as well, Taro took Naomi with him to their rooms.

"Let me guess," Sayoko then spoke, "She was too much?"

"No, she's completely crazy." Shin crossed his arms, "There was not one thing we did today that both of us enjoyed."

She sighed, "I was hoping that you didn't have to tell me that. Everyone that watches her says the same."

Getting up, Shin excused himself to make a phone call.

* * *

><p>When Taro knocked on his uncle's door, he found that Shin was going through old clothing, and folding them into separate piles. What caught his eye the most was the old camouflage uniforms.<p>

"Uncle Shin," Taro said in a calm voice, "We have visitors over and mom wanted me to tell you that dinner is done."

He then walked over to look, "You were in the army too?"

Shin laughed, "No. I had to work with them for a bit."

"You're the coolest uncle ever; Armor and shooting bad guys."

"I was going to toss these out." Shin said looking at all the uniforms, "Do want them?"

"Please?"

Shin laughed, "Take good care of them."

"You have medals too?" Taro said looking at them, "What did you do?"

"I jumped out of helicopters to save people in the water."

"What's this one for?"

Shin stared at it before laughing, "There was a flood and I had just saved an elderly woman. She started telling me that I should have saved her dogs, and then she started to hit me with her cane when I told her that I didn't see any dogs."

"What did you do then?"

"I jumped back into the water to look for any form of dog. When I entered her house, there were just stuffed toys so I grabbed one and brought it to her. She then hugged me."

"What about this one?"

Shin frowned looking at the one Taro was holding. It was from the shooting.

"Eh, your mom can tell you about that one."

Hearing the change in tone, Taro didn't bother him about it, "Okay. Who are these people?"

He was holding up the picture of Yayoi and a ripped page from an old magazine. Shin quickly took it away from him before he could recognize her or ask questions about the barely clothed woman picture. He knew that he probably should go through the pockets before letting him take them.

"No one special."

"What are you two doing?" Sayoko asked, standing in the doorway.

They both gave her a surprised look.

"Come on." She said, before leaving.

Entering the dining room, Yayoi and her fiancé were already sitting down. Naomi was rambling about the ducks from earlier. Shin realized how awkward this visit was. First was that he was having dinner with his ex-girlfriend and her fiancé, and the second was the guy's name; Morimoto Shin.

Leaning to his sister, Shin let her know in English, "This is really awkward. Why do I have to be here?"

"Because you're polite and the perfect gentleman."

"I'm not watching Naomi in the morning then."

"Fine."

The third thing that made it all awkward is that the women called him Boy-chama all night to not confuse Yayoi's fiancé. It made the two kids laugh as well.

'So much for being the cool uncle.' Shin thought, trying to hide his embarrassment in his glass.

The last thing that made him open a bottle of wine to drink out of was that he was left to entertain the man. The guy was smart, polite, but uncomfortable with new people. He would move his glasses around when he was nervous. The man was lucky that Touma was not here. Touma liked to make fun of nerds that couldn't get out of their safety box.

"So," he started after drinking out of his glass, "You play the cello."

Shin saw the man's eye lit up before he spoke, "I do. I find the sound peaceful. Do you play any instruments?"

"I can play the guitar. I'm not great at it though."

"Then you're not practicing it enough." The man said, "The guitar is a hard instrument to learn. If you're serious about learning it, you should be practicing at least four hours a day."

Shin frowned, "I only play with a friend when he's over."

"Hmm," the man hummed, "You know her brother right?"

"I do. He's a friend of mine."

"Why is he so scary? It's like he's hiding something."

Shin laughed, "He's not hiding anything. He's just like that."

It took a few more topics before they both could contain a conversation going. It also helped that Shin cheated and got his counterpart to drink with him. Comparing wine was something they both enjoyed, and Shin brought out the two bottles he had brought with him. Something else they had in common was that the women in the house were a bit angry that they were drinking.

"So you two are drinking?" Sayoko said, giving her brother a glare.

"Not drinking; comparing." The other Shin responded, "Wine is something to be enjoyed slowly, not finished quickly."

"As a wise Frenchman once said," Shin started, "Ce soir, nous buvons du vin et faire la fête."

"And who was this?" Sayoko asked.

"It was my friend Martin."

"Boy-chama, why don't you take the kids upstairs and get them ready for bed." She then said.

Shin sighed, "Alright."

Getting the children to bed, Shin could hear the conversation going on between his sister and the guests. It mostly consisted of Sayoko apologizing to Yayoi about his behavior. Yayoi didn't seem to mind as her fiancé was happy. He came out to the living room after hearing the front door shut.

"What the hell, Shin?"

Shin snorted, "I made an uncomfortable circumstance work. It was better than anything the two of you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, Shin stopped his attack to grab his coat and shoes, "Nothing. I'm going out."

He could hear her walk up to him quickly, "Just answer the question."

"Boy-chama, really? It was cute ten years ago. I think after tonight, the only woman in Japan that doesn't treat me like a little boy is Nasuti. No wonder Mr. Morimoto was comfortable." He then walked out the door with keys in his hand.

"Shin, the police are stricter about driving drunk nowadays." She called out.

"Don't worry about me calling you then."

"Shin…"

He didn't turn to give her the bird.


	38. Part 2 Ch 11

**Here's the next one. Forgive me if there's any spelling mistakes. My keyboard is sticking because someone spilt Coke on it a few months ago. Enjoy.**

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><p>Earlier in Tokyo…<p>

"Hey Hector, do you want to come out to the science fair?"

The boy turned from the TV, "I'm okay here Tom."

Touma sighed. He had a happy excited kid on his shoulders, and Seiji who were going with him.

"No luck?" Seiji grinned, knowing that Touma's day wasn't going to plan.

"No. The boy has no interest in science anymore. Makes me sad." Touma wiped a fake tear.

"Well, you have me." Seiji smirked, "and you don't have to find the rest of the tape."

"I almost want to call Shin back."

Seiji sighed, "I predict that he's going to have a bad night today."

"Why's that?"

"Yayoi will be over there."

A small voice in English as heard, "Daddy, are we going?"

Seiji laughed, because Touma had forgotten that the four year old was on his shoulders, patiently waiting to go out. The entire drive over, she kept asking questions about it. Touma kept saying that he didn't know what was there and that they'll see.

"Why are you parking so far away?" Seiji asked.

"There's going to be no parking there. I just know it." Touma then grinned, "Plus I have four years of cheeseburgers to walk off."

Seiji sighed, "Stop eating them if you're worried."

"They taste so good."

"Cheeseburgers!" Kimberly yelled out.

Seiji shook his head. Instead of one Hashiba to watch, he had two. And they both thought they were funny.

"Uncle Seiji, you coming?" Kimberly yelled, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah Uncle Seiji, coming?"

"Yeah, I'm just picturing the two of you in a McDonalds."

* * *

><p>The walk over was interesting. Kimberly kept asking more questions, which included why everyone looked the same. Touma gave Seiji a look before explaining that humans were kind of like puppies and that certain puppies looked alike, but compared to another kind of puppies, they were still puppies.<p>

"So why does Uncle Seiji have yellow hair even though he is from here?"

"That's because Uncle Seiji is a freak."

"I am not, Mr. 'I have blue hair.'"

Kimberly frowned, "I want squinty eyes."

"You have squinty eyes." Touma said, "We've gone over this."

Seeing the entrance, Seiji commented that there were plenty of open parking spots. Touma sighed, and said something about Seiji complaining. Then Touma read a list of who was showing stuff off at the fair.

"Oh no. Genichirou is here." Touma frowned, "What the hell is he doing outside of his office?"

"Maybe he changed?" Seiji spoke, understanding Touma's awkward moment.

"No, Genichirou doesn't change." Touma's brow gathered, "Mother fucker."

"Daddy, you said a bad word." Kimberly laughed.

"I know." Touma's look on his face was priceless Seiji thought.

"So are we going in then?" he asked.

Touma growled, "I can't let him ruin our day out."

Seiji nodded, "Why don't I take Kimberly for a while."

"Why?"

"Because I know you too well."

"Fine," Touma said before taking the girl off his shoulders, "I'm going to look around."

Watching his friend storm off, Seiji laughed, "What do you want to see first?"

Kimberly pointed to a table with robot toys. As best he could, Seiji tried to translate all the information for the girl, which in turn, Kimberly seemed to be his English teacher for the day. When she was done correcting him, she would ask him a question to ask the man at the table. When she was bored with the robots, they went to a table with rocks. Well, they looked like rocks to Seiji, and the girl became bored with them quickly was well.

"Pikachu!" she yelled out, seeing a giant moving Pikachu.

Seiji knew it was a man in a costume, but followed Kimberly and took pictures for her. Soon after, there was a crashing sound. Seiji could hear Touma's voice follow. Knowing that the meeting between his friend and the father wasn't going well, the warrior of light took Kimberly outside for ice cream. They both sat outside waiting for Touma to come out, as Kimberly played with the little Pikachu figure she received.

"Uncle Seiji," Kimberly started, "You almost look like Pikachu."

Seiji's face grew red, causing her to laugh more.

"Now you just need to make lighting."

Grinning, Seiji asked her to explain what Pikachu was, which she gladly went through everything she knew of this cartoon character, and then she went on to talk about a pika, which to her, was not as cute Pikachu, but just a small rodent that lived in holes in a zoo.

"What's your favorite Pokémon?" she then asked.

"Hmm, I don't know them very well. What if I just pick Pikachu?"

"You can't have the same favorite as me?"

"Why not?"

Kimberly sighed, "Because, if we were both trainers, it would be a boring fight, and too predictable. Come on Uncle Seiji, let's find you a Pokémon."

Seiji sat with a shocked look on his face. He started to think that Touma just cloned a more adorable version of himself instead of making a kid. He felt her drag him along to a store down the street.

"How did you know where this place was?"

"I don't know." She smiled, walking in.

"Yes you do."

She just gave him a sweet look before taking off to find him a Pokémon. Looking around, Seiji knew that his nice clothes stuck out, but deep inside, Seiji wanted to look at the 'Legend of Zelda swords.' And wear the green hat. Oh, and maybe look at the new game that was coming out in a few months. The rare geek in him was slowly coming out.

"Dammit Touma." Seiji growled, looking at the new game. He might have to reserve a copy.

"You're one of those guys that have the magic armor." The man behind the counter said.

Seiji looked up, sighing, "I am."

"Can you sign this?" the man asked, holding a picture of Korin, Suiko, and Kongo. It was from running into the tourist bus days ago.

"Fine. Can you tell me more about the new game?" Seiji was now leaning on the counter.

The man gave him a look, "You play video games?"

"Only the 'Zelda' games."

The man grinned, "'Ocarina of Time' is going to be the best game ever. Best graphics, great music; it will be great."

"Uncle Seiji, I think this one is for you." Kimberly ran to him.

"Looks like a turnip." Seiji said.

"How about this one?" she held up a brown fox looking one.

"What does this one do?" Seiji asked.

"Turns into this one," she handed him a red fox, a yellow one, and then a blue one, "And finally this one."

He was now holding all four toys as she continued talking about the books she found, and couldn't read because the words were scribbles.

"You should then make your dad teach you Japanese."

"He says that I won't need it."

"You will if I buy you those books." Seiji's plan was slowly working.

"Okay. I'll ask him."

Seiji grinned, "I'll get all of these and a box of Pocky."

* * *

><p>When Touma found them, he knew something was up. One, Kimberly had a box of Pocky in her hands, which meant she was going to be hyper. Two, Seiji had an evil grin on his face.<p>

"How'd it go?" Seiji asked, putting a book down.

"He has a girlfriend who's our age." Touma sighed, "Well, had, until I said that I bought his granddaughter here. Then she ran away. Her face expression was great. Then he threatened me, and told him he was a moron, and then I laughed at him before searching for the two of you. Which by the way, took awhile because you two were not in there."

Seiji held up the Pokémon and the books, "She wanted to play."

"You let her eat an entire box of Pocky?"

"She had ice cream before." Seiji smirked, "So I think my job here is done."

"Evil. We should have left you in an angry mood."

"Tea?"

Touma glared at him for some time, "Fine."

After some time walking down the street, Seiji spoke up, "You called him a moron?"

"Hey, I was put on the spot. I couldn't decide if I wanted to hit him or call him a pervert."

"So you called him a moron?"

"I had a lot of pressure on me."

"You're good with being pressured."

Touma growled as they entered a shop.

* * *

><p>The jail cell was cold, stank, and uncomfortable. Shin knew that he should have just listened to Sayoko and walked around outside instead of driving in anger. His right shoulder was sore from being pulled backwards by the young cop that he didn't know, and he thought he knew all of them in the city. Most of them were friends with his mother. It was early in the morning, so he knew that Sayoko would be bouncing off the walls, worrying that he was in jail or dead. He was surprised that she hadn't come, but then remembered that he had taken her car. He slapped his forehead again for being an ass.<p>

"Mr. Mori, you have visitors." The young cop said.

Sitting up, Shin's jaw dropped. He was not expecting the two people standing outside his cell.

"Mr. Mori," he heard the first one speak in English, "After following you for a few years, I didn't think I'd ever find you in a cell."

Brandon Weathers and Michelle Reichart were standing outside. Shin's mouth was still open when Weathers spoke.

"You're probably wondering why we're here."

Shin's mind came to, reminding him to shut his mouth, "Yeah, why are you two here, and how did you find me?"

"Martin told us where you went and gave us your sister's address. When we finally found her house, she said you had gone out on a drunken stupor. So we found your car and started to check police stations." Michelle said.

Brandon cleared his throat, "We need your help, and well, it seems you need ours. So we'll make a deal. We'll get you out of this predicament with the law if you help us search for the missing armor."

Shin was now standing up, holding the bars, "You can get me out of a DUI?"

"Yes, we have our ways." Brandon smirked.

"So what are we going to do once we find the missing armor?" Shin asked, "It's too dangerous to just give to a country to keep and I don't know if a friend of mine will hold on to it."

"Mr. Mori, you're thinking ahead of yourself. We just need to know that the missing armor is accounted for and safe." Brandon answered, "We're not asking for you to hand it to us like the last time we met."

"Would you like us to wait until you're a bit more sober?" Michelle asked.

"No, I'm fine. I really didn't drink much at all." Shin sighed. He didn't want to use this card to get out of trouble.

The Englishman nodded, "I'll start talking to them about dropping the charges."

Shin waited for him to leave them alone, "It must be really important if the both of you came here instead of waiting for me to return."

"It is," Michelle sighed, "We found out that all five of the armors were going to be in Japan at the same time. It would make our job easier if we had all five of you helping us."

Shin closed his eyes, "It's not really going to matter if all of us go. Hopefully it's still in the same place we fought against it."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then we have a long game of searching the Demon World."

Brandon soon returned with the young cop. The cop gave Shin a look before opening the door. The two agents started for the exit. After they left the young cop grabbed Shin by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

"Just because you have the magical armor and your family is famous for the pottery, doesn't make you special, Mr. Mori." He said, handing Shin the armor orb, "Next time I won't play nicely. I'm not just some local cop you can call buddy. Got it?"

Shin nodded, "There won't be a next time, I swear."

Walking out, Shin was rotating his right shoulder, cursing the cop's name. He tossed the keys to Sayoko's car to Brandon before getting in.


	39. Part 2 Ch 12

**I swear that I'm not dead. I had a hard time with this one (hence the shortness of it), plots for other stories, and then I had a baby in late March. (Yay for sleepless nights and vomit showers.) Anyways, enjoy.**

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><p>Quietly getting in through the door, Shin switched his shoes for slippers before finding some for his guests. The house was dark, and he knew that Sayoko was somewhere in that dark, waiting to reprimand him for being an idiot. He didn't blame her though. He knew he had pulled a dumb stunt, and paid for it when he ate asphalt, but he knew that he was the bad little brother who was going to pay anyways. The trio just entered the kitchen when the lights came on. Sayoko turned the lights on from the hallway.<p>

"Shin, you're okay?" she sounded worried.

Shin lowered his head in shame before she came over to hug him. Then came the slap to the back of the head as he expected.

"How could you? I've been up all night, worrying on whether you were dead somewhere or not. Then these two showed up asking about you." She turned to the others to offer them tea or coffee after seeing the look on Shin's face.

"I'd hate to have met your mother." Brandon leaned into Shin's ear.

"I wouldn't be sitting here if my mother was here. I'd be in my room." Shin sighed, "Does she know why you both are here?"

"Yes, to some extent. Michelle doesn't know if your family knows about the armor or not."

Shin nodded, "She does."

"Shin," Sayoko called out, "Can you grab the china set?"

He stood to grab enough dishes and cups to set the table. It didn't take long for the tea to be served. Sayoko then excused herself. She had to go to bed now that she didn't have to worry about her troublesome brother. Not long after she left, the two agents started to ask questions about where to start looking. Shin sat quietly, tapping his fingers, before speaking. He didn't want to drag the others into this, but without calling Ryo, he didn't have a way to talk to Kayura. His thoughts were broken up by a letter that was tossed to him.

"I have something that you might be able to help me with." Michelle said, "It doesn't have anything to do with the armors, but it does have something to do with you, I believe."

"It's a letter from Mr. Blanc, but you already know about our relation." Shin sighed, reading through the letter, "He sent me a job offer?"

"Yes."

"And…"

"Well, I need someone near him and you're perfect."

Shin sighed, dropping the letter on the table, "I'm not going to spy on my father."

"Okay." Michelle said.

Brandon snorted, "That's it? You're not going to pressure him?"

"No." she answered, getting out of her chair, "I am heading to bed. It would be the best if you two did the same."

The men glanced at each other before Shin stood.

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><p>He swore that he locked the bedroom door. Shin was again awakened by Naomi by her jumping on his head. Remembering who he would deal with, he chose to not throw her off the bed. This time. Getting up, he checked the door. Yep, she broke into the room somehow.<p>

"How did you open this?" Shin asked.

He just received a grin from the young girl. With an eyebrow raised, Shin looked at the door again.

"Yes Shin, it's a door." He heard Sayoko say.

Shin gave her a look before asking Naomi how she got in again. The child produced a thin piece of wire and pointed to the small hole in the knob. Quickly taking the wire from her, Shin picked her up and tucked her to his side. Arms and legs flew around as Shin ran out of the room tickling her. He went around trying to find a good place to put her before running off, and decided that his sister's room was a good place. Unfortunately for Sayoko, she was still in bed trying to sleep when she was tossed into the air and heard laughter from the other side of the bed. Shin had tossed the girl on the bed and then jumped onto it. He then got under the covers and snuggled up to his sister. Naomi did the same.

"What are you two doing?" she sat up quickly.

Shin grinned, "Someone woke me up, and so I decided to wake someone else up. And I thought that I should apologize for last night."

He then received a pillow to the face. Then he had to cry out 'mercy' when she wouldn't lift the pillow. Naomi thought it was funny and jumped onto Shin's stomach.

"Shin, apology accepted. Now come on, we have guests, and Taro wants a lesson before you take off to do the armor thing."

"Okay." Shin wheezed out after the girl ran out of the room.

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><p>It was late at night when Kayura showed up. Shin had contacted Ryo about talking to her, and she wasn't going to let any of them down by not responding. When she asked about why she was needed, Shin explained. She gave to two agents a look, before telling him that she suspected the missing armor to be destroyed, but they insisted on seeing proof. So they spent the next the next few hours riding out to the spot where the armor of Venom was seen last.<p>

Instead of the calm it had the first time Shin saw the lake, it felt scarred. Everything around them still had remains of the fight against Masafumi. Shu had really messed the place up and the land was not happy. The trees were tossing small rocks at them. He felt bad that he had the underarmor to protect him and the others didn't.

"At least the water is still clear." Shin tried to joke.

"It is." Kayura said before looking at the two agents, "You can let them know that they are free to look for the armor."

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><p>Walking around the crater, Shin soon found himself sitting down, staring into it. He could hear the agents curse from being hit by rocks and other objects that the trees were tossing. He tried not laughing at them, but when Brandon was hit square in the face and went off on a rant, he couldn't hold it in.<p>

"I'm starting to hate this bloody place." Brandon said, standing behind the warrior.

"Hmm." Shin hummed. His eyes were closed as he was taking in the sounds of the water and cursing from the others.

"There's something in the crater." He heard the Englishman say, "I don't suppose you could get it?"

Shin opened his eyes to look down. There was something reflecting light from under the water. He then jumped in to retrieve it. Coming back up, he held one of the swords. He had a strange feeling that it was the one that was used on him. And he knew the water was still filled with the venom. Kayura and Michelle caught up just in time to watch Shin pass out into the cleaner lake.


	40. Part 2 Ch 13

**Here's the next one. Enjoy.**

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><p>He woke to a room he didn't recognize. The sun was coming through the window, blinding him. But that wasn't what woke him.<p>

"Daddy?"

Shin's eyes popped open wide. He soon found himself running out of the room wondering what the hell was going on. He ran passed a mirror and stopped to relook at what he thought was wrong. He spent a few seconds viewing his thinning hair.

"Shin, dear?"

Afraid to turn, he did to see Kayura standing there. Then he fainted.

"Shin?"

_Shin…_

"Shin, how are you feeling?"

Shin opened his eyes, and his hands went quickly to his head.

"I'm not bald?" he said, before looking at Kayura, who was by his bedside, "What happened?"

"The crater was polluted from the fight, and you received a heavy dose of it." Then she laughed, "That was one interesting dream."

Shin's face grew red, "It wasn't on purpose. You know what I dreamed of?"

"I can only assume as you call out names of people and the tone of your voice."

"Oh dear." Shin sat up rubbing his face, "Where's the other two?"

"Home. They're satisfied that the armor of venom is destroyed. The woman left this for you."

Taking the letter from her, Shin read it. She was asking him to think about the job offer. He sighed.

"Thanks Kayura. I should be heading home now."

Kayura sighed as he walked out of the room. Rajura reappeared with a grin.

"You're horrible."

Rajura laughed, "It's not every day I can mess with one of them. Besides, did you see his face when he woke and saw you?"

Kayura frowned as the warriors of illusion left the room, amused.

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><p>The week before leaving Japan, Shin heard giggling near his ear. The girl was getting ready to jump into his bed. He quickly fixed that by pulling out a water gun and spraying it into the girl's face.<p>

"Stop Uncle Shin!" Naomi screamed and then ran out, "Mom! Uncle Shin is mean!"

Shin sat up, and Taro crawled from under the bed laughing. The warrior of water joined him. Naomi didn't wake him for the rest of the vacation.

"Normally, I would not recommend torturing your sister, but that was deserved." Shin finally let out.

"Don't worry Uncle Shin. I won't shoot her with water." Taro laughed fixing the old camouflage jacket he was wearing, "Now for Operation Cookie Crumbles."

Shin raised an eyebrow, "Do you want to make both women mad at us?"

"Why not?"

Shin let out a deep breath; Taro had much to learn about angry Mori women, "Okay."

"Here Uncle Shin, you're going to need these." The boy said, handling him an old desert uniform, "We need to get information about the cookies and when mom's going to start them."

"Shin! Where did you get that water gun?"

The men looked at each other, "Hide!"

They soon found themselves hiding in bushes on a small hill behind the house. Taro went ahead and covered his face with dirt. He gave Shin a look to hurry up and do the same. Not that it was going to help hide the tan jacket and pants, and the bright blue t-shirt, Shin followed suit. They both then moved to where they could watch the kitchen.

It was about lunchtime when they saw that Sayoko was starting the cookies.

"Chocolate chip." Taro said slowly, pulling down the binoculars, "I love chocolate chip. We have twenty minutes until she pulls them out of the oven."

Shin shook his head and smiled, "Lead on Commander Taro."

They continued to watch through the window for Sayoko to pull the cookies out and placed another sheet of them in the oven. When she set them out to cool, they both bolted towards the kitchen window. Up against the wall, Shin peered in looking for Sayoko. He then lifted the boy to the window so that Taro could get in.

"Uncle Shin, can you grab the cookies? They're still hot. I'll get the milk." Taro said after Shin climbed in.

Grabbing a towel, he placed it over the cookie pan and then taped the cloth. He then jumped out the window. Taro soon jumped out of the window. They then ran back to their bushes to hide.

"You grabbed the whole thing of milk?" Shin asked.

"We need lots of milk for all those cookies." Taro laughed, "Besides, mom is already going to kill us for stealing the cookies."

"Okay." Shin sighed.

Their next plan of Bo staff training had to wait until their stomach aches went away. Until then, Taro wanted to hear stories of his fights against the evil demon. Leaving out some of the worst parts, like the torture and dying, Shin talked about it a bit.

"Your weapon broke?"

Shin sighed, "Yeah, it was scary watching the claw fly back towards me, but it didn't matter much after because the fist continued down."

"Then the others came to the rescue?"

Shin stopped, and then frowned, "Not really. I don't really remember much after that."

"You passed out?"

"… "

"Wow, it must have been a bad fight." The boy looked up at the sky, "So, who gets Suiko next?"

Shin paused. He wasn't expecting that question.

"Hmm, well, I guess you would be next."

"Cool."

Hearing Sayoko yelling for them to come back, Shin sat up, "If we keep making her mad, Suiko won't be able to save us."

"But Suiko is magic armor."

"My sister feeds us and provides us with a place to sleep."

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><p>Later they both found themselves cleaning the house, while the girls sat and watched TV together. Shin found himself on the roof cleaning leaves off. He hated being on angled roofs. It was worse when Sayoko sprayed him with a hose to remind him to not shoot kids in the face with water guns. Worse yet, the wind picked up.<p>

"Just keep cleaning." Shin told himself after his sister left, "It's not like you didn't deserve it."

"Hey Shin!"

Caught unaware, Shin fell off the ladder. Ryuusuke was heard laughing.

"Oh little brother, what did you do?"

"Sayoko can explain. She'll probably make it sound worse than it was." Shin continued to lie on the ground, "You're back early."

"Yeah, we couldn't find anything. Need help up?"

Shin shook his head, "Oddly enough, I feel comfortable right here."

"Okay. Let us know if you need a doctor for your back." Ryuusuke said, before heading in.

Spending the next few minutes pondering the meaning of life and if it was really worth trying to sit up, Shin decided that the meaning of life was too complicated and that he needed to get up because he was lying on something uncomfortable. It turned out to be an ant hill and they weren't too happy. Neither was Shin when he had to take his shirt off to shake them out.

"Might as well complete this joke and rain, clouds." Shin said out loud, while looking up.

It hailed.

"Touché." Shin mumbled before heading inside, "I need a cookie."


	41. Part 2 Ch 14

**Anyone watching 'Korra?' If you aren't, you should if you can. It's amazing. Oh, and the live action Sailor Moon is silly but addicting. Oh the things I watch since I'm not working yet.**

**So some of the first part of the chapter are based off of things that have happened since the baby was born, and some are just for humor. I'm just glad she was asleep so I could finish this chapter. Enjoy.**

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><p>Seiji decided that babies were loud and annoying, even if they do belong to him. It was mid- June and Nasuti was due to come home from a trip. That left Seiji and the baby boy at the dojo for the past few weeks. He considered himself a patient person. He could deal with a whole lot of problems, but babies? No wonder Touma bugged him every night after Kimberly was born.<p>

He just got his son to sleep and into the crib. Seiji stood there hoping that he'd stay asleep long enough so he could meditate and then shave. Deciding that the boy wasn't going to wake up. Seiji placed himself on his mat to begin. The room was ideal as he closed his eyes.

"Mwah!"

"Mother fucker!" Seiji cursed, "Why? I want just five minutes of quiet."

"Seiji, are you yelling at a baby?" he heard Satsuki say. She was peeking through the door.

"Go away!" Seiji growled, "Shouldn't you be out at the university?"

"No, I finished school a few years ago, silly." She then smiled at the baby, "Who's a beautiful baby boy?"

"You shouldn't call him 'beautiful.' It's un-manly."

"No it isn't." She said, taking Kenichi from Seiji, "Your father's just sore from being dressed as a girl when he was little."

"Not that you helped out at all." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Of course not. It was all mother and Yayoi."

Seiji sighed.

"I'll watch him while you do dojo stuff." Satsuki smiled, "Besides, I don't get to see him often."

Seiji quietly agreed that she wasn't around often.

"Oh, how was France with Nasuti?" Satsuki asked, causing him to quietly curse.

"It was nice, I suppose. I think that Nasuti was just glad to go home."

"Did you see Boy-chama?"

"Yes." Seiji sighed. He really wanted her to just leave.

"Did he marry that French woman yet?"

"No."

"Has he even proposed yet?"

"Yes."

"It's about time. Are you going?"

Seiji sighed, "Dear little sister, if you are going to take him can you leave? If not, leave him here."

She snorted, "Fine, I'll take him and leave. Next time you talk to Boy-chama, tell him congrats. I'll give him a better haircut next time I see him."

"Go."

Now that it was quiet, Seiji relaxed. Sitting on his mat again, he started to concentrate on breathing.

"Seiji, I don't know how to change a diaper."

Seiji grinded his teeth, "I'll take care of it."

Satsuki handed the boy over with a look of disgust. Taking him, Seiji knew that the diaper was in bad shape. He gave her a nasty look.

After the diaper was changed, Seiji set the baby boy down. He was hoping and praying that the boy would go to sleep. Then the phone went off.

"Moshi moshi." Seiji mumbled.

"Dude, is your computer ready for Y2K?"

"Yes Shu, Nasuti took care of the computer."

"Oh, she's away again, isn't she? Well, Touma sent me something about Y2K destroying computers and the world at the end of the year. I was just wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Ask Ryo."

"Like he'd know."

"Ask Touma for more information."

"He's in America."

"Ask a computer nerd."

"You're no help."

"And you woke my baby up. I just got him to sleep." Seiji growled.

Shu laughed, "Sorry about that."

"Shu, Y2K is not going to destroy the world. They'll just think it's the year 1900. And we lived perfectly fine before computers so I'm not worried."

"Thanks dude."

Seiji sighed and looked at the baby, who was quietly staring at him.

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><p>It was one o'clock in the morning. Seiji was fighting the feeling of sleep. Kenichi was not. The baby was up chattering to himself. Satsuki, who decided to stay for the night, was passed out on another sofa. So much for the help, Seiji thought. He really wanted to get up to stretch.<p>

"Satsuki." He called quietly. Nothing.

"Satsuki." He called louder.

Again she didn't respond. Seiji wondered why she volunteered to help if she wouldn't wake up to help. Taking the chance, he got up to run towards the bathroom. The baby didn't like him getting up. During all this, his sister didn't wake up, which made him angrier with her. He was stuck again, trying to get him to fall asleep.

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><p>When Nasuti walked into the house, she noticed that it was quiet when though the living room lights were on. She was quite surprised to see Satsuki still sleeping; partially on the sofa and on the floor. Seiji was asleep on the other sofa with the baby, who had drooled all over the both of them. She laughed and left them alone. Of course, she did after she took a picture for future amusement.<p>

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><p>Waiting for Shin to finish giving a bunch of tourist directions, Martin was trying to contain his excitement. He had a list of heavy metal bands who were going to be playing in the year's Graspop. But of course, Shin had to be nice and smile, not to mention vivid in his directions. Then he had to wait for him to make the order of coffee and pictures with the man with the magic armor. After Shin finished, he gave his friend a smirk.<p>

"Shin, you're way too nice to the foreigners." Martin sighed, "You should just ignore them like everyone else here in Paris does."

"I can't ignore them. It's rude."

"Then you're living in the wrong French city, my friend." Martin then pushed the ad into Shin face, "Graspop, Sunday. Motorhead is going to be there."

Shin gave him a sad look, "I have flower arrangements to do, you know, for the wedding that's coming next month. Gabby will make Claudia eat my pair of nice shoes if I don't show her how to do them."

"I'll deal with my sister. You just get ready for a great party of binge drinking and heavy metal." Martin then smiled, "Besides, messing with the Belgians is great fun."

Shin raised an eyebrow, "Last year I had to pull a few off of you because you called them waffles."

"So."

Shin was about to dispute it, but held it because of the phone.

"Shin, Schätze, ist meinen Bruder da?"

Shin gave Martin a look since he couldn't really respond, "I think it's your Aunt Heike."

"Oh Shin, Schätze! Would you like more liver dumplings? I made them special for you." Martin mocked before taking the phone. He then left to pass the phone to his father.

Shin shook his head, remembering when he went with them to their aunt's house for Christmas. He became sick after finding out what some of the food was, and for the rest of the visit, ate bread and pork.

"So, Graspop this Sunday?" Martin grinned, coming out from the back of the café.

"Fine." Shin frowned.

"Great." Martin turned to leave, but stopped, "Don't worry about Gabby. I'll take care of it."

"I'm thrilled." Shin deadpanned, watching Martin leave.

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><p>Shin was outside taking his helmet off his head, when he heard a bit of yelling and a plate came flying onto the sidewalk. He guessed it was all from his apartment since Martin poked his head out of the window.<p>

"Dude, leave. Gabby's angry." He yelled.

Shin almost took his advice and got on the moped, but he knew that Gabby would then kill him if he left. Placing the helmet back on his head, he went to the apartment. Trying to fit through the cracked door, Shin waited for an item to be thrown in his direction. He was just met with a happy dog and an angry Gabby who was about to yell. Instead, she let out a deep breath and changed her tone.

"So you two were going to go to Graspop and forgot to invite me?"

The men gave each other a look before Martin laughed, "You don't like metal."

"Neither does Shin."

Shin sighed. He hated being brought into fights.

"He's a man. Loud music, alcohol, and lots of people to possibly fight are our thing. He's a natural at this."

"Actually, fighting is not really my thi…"

"Shut it, Shin!"

Gabby gave her brother a look, before they continued their argument.

"I'm going to take the dog for a walk." Shin said, knowing that neither sibling was listening.

Hearing the door shut, they both stopped.

"Great, now he left."

"If you weren't such a psycho woman, he'd still be here. I need to take him out before you two get married and I can't."

"What? He's free to go out anytime." Watching Martin try to comeback, she interrupted, "But not when we already made plans."

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><p>Claudia was pretty good at listening to anything Shin had to say. Although he wasn't stressing over the wedding like he remembered how Seiji was, neither of the siblings were making it easy. He hated to think that he was a reason that they argued.<p>

"How does swimming sound?" he asked the dog, knowing that she wouldn't answer him.

Well, a water fountain wasn't what he had in mind, but the English sheepdog did. Looking around, he said 'fuck it,' and put the underarmor on. There were a few snaps of cameras going off, but Shin was used to it now.

There were times when people asked him to pose with them. He learned though, to be careful when to do that. There was a time when a bus tour full of his fellow countrymen stopped to get a picture with them. A bunch of smiling, laughing teenage girls all gathered around. Gabby was not happy with him for the rest of the day. But he received a lot of Pocky.

The sound of someone walking towards him brought him out of his thoughts.

"Swimming in fountains?"

He looked up, "I thought you weren't stalking me again."

Michelle laughed, "I'm not, but I just happen to see you get into the water. Don't let the police catch you."

Shin gave her a grin, "Don't you know that I could get away with murder here in Paris?"

"I do, but I doubt you would kill someone just to prove it."

"True. I should get home now."

"Alright." She gave him a smile and continued on her way.

Shin looked at the wet dog before laughing and heading home.


	42. Part 2 Ch 15

**Almost done. I'll try to get the last chapter up soon and then the epilogue. Enjoy.**

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><p>Walking back into his apartment, Shin noticed that no one was there. Knowing them, they probably separated to let out the rest of the steam that boiled up. That left him with a dilemma; should he start watching the soap opera that Sayoko sent him, or should he wait for the twins to return to join him?<p>

Eh, he didn't feel like translating for them.

He was in the middle of cooking dinner when the phone went off. The dog's ears popped up. The woman on the other line sounded distressed.

"Allô."

"Shin, I need your help."

* * *

><p>Having gone out to settle down, Gabby bought a few things. Knowing Shin, she knew he'd be home already and probably had started to cook something. As she walked through the door, she could smell something. Shin had started cooking, but wasn't when she found him. He looked stressed and worried. The person on the other side of the phone was female, and because of the language difference, she assumed it was his sister.<p>

What made her worry was that Shin looked at her and then left for the bedroom with the phone. The dog followed. She finished cooking the chicken before getting a glass of wine ready for him. She knew that he'd talk after a glass.

"Shin?"

He turned to give her a sad look. Tears were already forming.

"What's going on? What did your sister say to you?"

"Jiko ga at ta. Ryuusuke-kun ha, fune no tenpuku kara korosa re ta. Ane-chan ha watashi ga kaet te ki tai to kangae te i masu." Shin spat out fast, not realizing what language he was using.

"Shin, now in French please?"

Shin sighed to relax himself, "Ryuusuke's boat capsized after a storm hit. He didn't make it. So Sayoko requested that I come home to help with the children."

"Oh." Gabby said after a moment of silence, "You're not coming back, are you?"

Shin turned away, not knowing how to put it nicely.

"I'll let you pack." She said heading for the door.

"Gabby." He said standing up, catching her arm, "You can still come with me."

"Shin, we've been over this. The language and culture are so different."

"I know." He let her arm go. He didn't stop her from leaving.

Gabby avoided him during the time before he left. She even didn't show up to the airport to wish him goodbye in fear that she was wrong about not going with him. Martin had given her a disappointed look when he came back from dropping Shin off. He knew she'd regret not going. He just didn't know when she'd realize it.

* * *

><p>It was mid-July when he found an apartment in Yamaguchi. Shin had Ryo and Shu over for a small homecoming party. They all found that Claudia didn't like Shu. The dog laid in a corner giving the man a look and sometimes would growl.<p>

"Sorry Shu, I don't know what her problem is." Shin laughed.

"I know," Ryo teased, "He ate all of the food and didn't leave any for her."

"Like I'd leave a well cooked steak for a dog." Shu retorted and then looked at Shin, "Are you sure you can't move in with us? Your cooking is even more amazing."

"No, I can't." Shin grinned, "Taro will fight you for me."

"I'll move in with you and Jae." Ryo teased, slapping him on the back softly.

"You can't cook as well as he can."

"Fine." Ryo said, "So have they given you the job yet?"

Ryo was talking about the new European restaurant that opened. Shin had already put an application in for a cooking job.

"Not yet. They don't think I can cook French food."

"Have they lost their minds? You lived there for what, five years?"

"Something like that, and I worked in a café for two years. I guess that's not enough for them."

"It's their loss." Ryo added, "Nice passport picture."

Ryo was looking at Shin's French passport.

"Were you drunk?"

Shin smiled, "Maybe. The three of us went out to celebrate the night before."

"I'd keep it. It's better than the other passport picture." Ryo said, holding both up, "This one; you look like you were twelve."

Shin gave him a look, "I was sixteen in that picture."

"Yep." Shu grinned, also deciding to look, "Mullet and all. No wonder you and Ryo got haircuts. It looks so bad."

"The eighties" All three hummed.

"Yeah, the haircut was needed." Ryo said after wards.

"Yes." Shin agreed, taking the dirty plates from the table.

"Too bad Seiji and Touma aren't here." Shu said.

"Why's that?" Ryo asked.

"We need to do another training day."

Ryo hummed, "Well, they're both on some cruise in the Caribbean with the families."

"Lucky them." Shu said, "Then the three of us need to go out. I need to pound on someone for a bit."

Shin stared him down before laughing, "If you didn't look like your Uncle Chin, you wouldn't have to."

"I thought he was looking fatter." Ryo added.

"You guys are mean. I haven't been able to go out to the gym recently."

"Looks more like a year or so." Shin said.

"Ha!"

Ryo laughed, "I'm going to have to take a rain check on training day. Byauken and I are going on a camping trip."

"Booo." Shu said.

Shin laughed, "Alright, I have to go check on Sayoko and the kids. You're both welcome to stay here."

"Laters." Shu waved.

"Bye." Ryo added, "Ok, it's time for me to beat you on 'Super Smash Brothers.'"

"No way. You can't beat Donkey Kong with Samus."

"Oh but I can."

* * *

><p>Walking through the front door, Shin was met by Taro. He was excited to see him.<p>

"How's your mom?"

"She's still in bed. Naomi's in there too." The boy said.

"Is she eating at least?"

Taro nodded, "What did you cook? Steaks?"

"Yes." He said heading for the kitchen, "Grab yourself a plate. I'll bring them food."

Taro took to being the man of the house pretty seriously. When his mother was in bed, he made sure Naomi got up for school and that she behaved. Whenever Shin came over, he informed him of how she was doing. Taro even made Naomi go to her room after she kicked Shin in the shin and stomped on his foot.

Knocking softly on the door, Shin peeked inside. Naomi was asleep on the bed, making faces as she dreamed. Sayoko, though, was staring at the wall. Her face was red from crying. He left the plates in the room. Shin didn't know how else to help her.

"Shin,"

He stopped to listen.

"Can you take her to her bed?"

Nodding, he walked over to pick the sleeping girl up.

"Anything else?"

"No. Thanks."

Shin gave her a sad smile as the closed the door. He sat down on the sofa, watching Taro play some game. After watching the character on the screen kill someone from behind, Shin spoke up.

"Does your mother know that you have this game?"

"Uncle Shin, please don't tell. This game is lots of fun." Taro begged.

"How did you get it?"

"My own money. Dad let me get it last year. The good guy, Snake, is cool. He's a spy who sneaks around, like we did last year."

Shin nodded.

* * *

><p>After watching Shu and Ryo head back to Tokyo, Shin went to open the shop up. He knew that if he couldn't get Sayoko out of her room, he could at least make sure that her only form of income stayed. Of course he had Taro and Naomi helping him; mostly Taro. Naomi liked to put handprints on the plates as the decoration. The first few were cute, but Shin knew after a while, they probably wouldn't sell.<p>

"Naomi, sit." He said in a soft tone, "We have to put more than just handprints on these."

"Okay." She smiled, putting her hands in more paint.

Maybe a pre-school or daycare would like them, Shin thought.

"Hey, let's try something different." Shin then spoke up, handing her a simple cup, "This needs to be painted."

"But there's no color." She frowned.

"They're supposed to look like that. It's a tradition for this kind of pottery."

"Fine." She crossed her arms before looking at what he was doing, "What's that?"

Shin stopped to look at the mug he was painting, "Oh, it's an old project of mine that I never finished."

"Is it as old as you?"

Shin stared at her for a bit, "No, but it's older than you."

"Like how old?"

"Eight years."

"What's taking you so long then?"

Shin sighed, "Life."

"Naomi, that's rude." Taro pitched in.

"So. Uncle Shin sprayed me in the face with a water gun."

"That was last year."

Shin let his face fall into his hands. The siblings were constantly fighting when he was around.

"Taro, can you unlock the front door?"

The boy stopped, and then nodded. Shin then made Naomi head back into the house to check on Sayoko. He soon took his project with him to continue to work on.

"That's not hagi-yaki, Uncle Shin. What is it?" Taro peeked over the counter.

"Beer mug."

"For who?"

Shin stopped. He had forgotten who it was for. It was for someone special… oh yeah.

"I was making it for Jun, not that we were going to let him drink beer, but because he won his kendo matches."

"Is that the old Suiko?" Taro was pointing to a small unpainted figure.

"Yes."

"Are you still going to give it to him?"

Shin laughed, as he knew where Taro was going with this, "How about when I finish it, I'll give it to you?"

"Uncle Shin, you're the best!" Taro yelled, giving him a hug.

Hugging him back, he had the biggest grin that he had in a long time.


	43. Part 2 Ch 16

**Enjoy. I should have the epilogue up tonight as well.**

* * *

><p>It had been a few months when he was finally given the job at the new restaurant. As much as Shin cared for the pottery shop, he needed to get out of it. It wasn't his thing anymore. Also with him working elsewhere forced Sayoko to start working again. He saw that she was starting to feel better and was more open to talk.<p>

He and Martin still e-mailed each other. It was always the same question; was he coming back? Martin joked that if Shin didn't return that he'll fly over to drag him back. Oddly enough, Shu was making the same threats of kidnapping him to bring him to Tokyo. Then came the awkward third wheel in a chain of horribly written, English e-mails between Martin and Shu. At least Shin felt loved that his two best friends fought over him, as weird as it was to have two men fight over him.

For the time being, Shin was laying in bed looking at a picture of him and Gabby. He really felt bad about leaving and he tried to get her to talk back to him, but he always received nothing.

He was waiting for the game to come on. Ryo told him that he and the rest of the national team were heading overseas to play a friendly match and that it was going to be on TV. A hundred and something minutes later, Shin and Claudia found themselves standing on the couch waiting to see if their team would pull off the comeback. The other team was currently attacking. Coming up to try and take it away, Ryo made the tackle, tripping the guy.

"Red card? Are you serious?" Shin was now jumping off the couch, "That was a bullshit call."

Claudia even pitched in, barking.

"Tell them, girl." He then sat down on the couch with a thump, "Oh, it's already time to get ready for work."

* * *

><p>For the most part, work during the week wasn't too bad. There were not many problems until that Saturday night. Shin had decided that some asshole was just trying to mess with him. The customer had ordered a rare steak, and then complained that it wasn't rare enough. Sighing, Shin decided to not fight it and just redo the meal. When it was brought back for a second time for the same reason, Shin gave the waiter a glare.<p>

"Did you tell this person that if I cooked it less, it would just be raw?"

"I told him that." The waiter said, not happy about the night.

"Fine, I'll redo it and then I'll take it out."

Taking another steak out, he let it sit on the grill for a second before flipping it over and doing the same. Shin then walked out, heading to the table. From afar it was a party of five but since it was in a corner with a separating wall, he couldn't really tell who was there. As he got closer, he started to notice that Ryo, Sayoko and the kids were sitting there. For a moment, he thought he saw Nasuti also sitting there, but she was on vacation and the woman's hair was lighter than Nasuti's. Then he just realized that the last person was the one person who told him that she'd never leave Europe. Looking back at Ryo, he saw that the warrior of fire was giving him a huge grin.

"Thanks buddy. Byauken prefers his steak raw."

Shin then gave him a glare, "I cooked one of the best cut steaks for a tiger?"

"Yep, oh, if you still have the other ones, I'll take them too, but more cooked."

The two kids were now laughing at their uncle's face that he was making. He was about to asking why she was here, but Ryo read his mind.

"Yes, it was a trick to get you to come out from back there, and the two of us ran into each other in the airport. She was looking lost, and I just happen to be there to catch a taxi. When I recognized her, I told her that we'd come surprise you."

"Looks like you did." Sayoko said, showing a smile.

"Thank you, Ryo." Shin said, bowing his head.

"It's my pleasure. I couldn't just leave her there, confused out of her mind."

* * *

><p>Because of work, he couldn't really stay and talk. For the rest of the time though, he felt butterflies in his stomach. He had given Gabby his key to his apartment. And he expected to hear something about leaving so he made sure to rehearse what he was going to say.<p>

Knocking on the apartment door, he calmed himself as she opened it. Claudia was heard barking as she was excited.

"Gabby, I'm sorry about leaving so quickly and I brought some ice cream and…"

She was giving him a smug look as she interrupted, "Shin, just come in and kiss me."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned.

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>…Almost…<strong>

* * *

><p>Sitting on a couple of lawn chairs, soaking in the sun, Seiji and Touma were enjoying the view. Well, Seiji was because Touma was dying to say something. Seiji didn't understand why it was taking his friend so long to spit it out though. So, he spoke up first.<p>

"Okay Touma, you're squirming over there. What's on your mind?"

"You know how I said that I wasn't going to have any more kids?"

"Oh jeez Touma, do I have to explain sex ed to you and why protection is important?"

"No, I just want to know why it just happens even though we were being careful."

"Okay genius, I'll explain to you very carefully."

"No, I know why, I just want to know _why_?"

"You have bad luck."

As to add salt to the wound, a kid bumped into Touma's chair, spilling his drink on him.

"Oh, what the hell?"

Seiji started laughing. For punishment, Touma kicked his chair over.

"What the hell?"

"Haha, you spilled your drink." Touma pointed.

"You're a dead man."

"Please don't. I have two kids and a third on the way."

It then turned into a wrestling match, with Seiji standing over him squeezing Touma's nose.

"Boys."

Both of them looked up to see their wives shaking their heads.

"Tom, you're worse than the kids." Carla said.

Touma gave her a nasty look. As she continued to rip into him, he realized that Seiji and Nasuti somehow escaped.

"Seiji, you bastard!"


	44. Epilogue

They all had gathered for the twentieth anniversary of defeating Arago. The five troopers drove out to the same place by the lake like they had before with less beer than before with the old jeep. A couple of them were graying, one was brave enough to just shave his balding head, and one tried to hide the gray hairs. Except for Seiji. He was just lucky to still have a full head of blonde hair, and he teased them all. At one point in the trip, Shu and Touma were comparing bellies. While Shu looked more like his Uncle Chin, with the bald head and round belly, Touma looked like he could get rid of the beer belly, just choose not to. But then again, Touma was enjoying his single life as he and Carla finally decided to call the marriage quits after fifteen years and two kids. He often brought up that he and Ryo should hit the clubs, but was quickly reminded that thirty-six year old men would probably scare off the 'young' people where Touma wanted to go.

"It makes me sad. My little girl has no interest in science and math anymore. All she talks about are boys and shopping." Touma complained in the ride over, "Poor old Papa isn't important anymore."

Seiji snorted, "You gave her the choice of going to California over coming here. It's your fault."

"I wasn't going to leave her in Seattle by herself. She might 'go out.'"

The other three were now openly laughing at him.

"Oh shut up Shu. Just you wait until your herd of kids get older. And you two," he pointed to Shin and Ryo, "You two can't talk because you two don't have kids."

"And?" Ryo asked.

"Touma's sad that Kimberly is growing up." Seiji then wiped away an imaginary tear.

"What about Tom Jr.?" Shu asked, laughing.

"He's fine. I'm just worried about Hector trying to get him into some gang."

"Told you that you should have just moved back." Seiji mumbled.

"Neh neh, I told you so, neh neh."

Seiji sighed, "You know, I think your children act more like adults that you do."

Touma flared up, "I didn't get to live my childhood." He calmed down a bit, "So I'm going through it now."

"That's so sweet. I'm really happy for you."

"Watch it, Fishboy. I heard the sarcasm."

Seiji finished, "Except, that you've been this way since after school."

"What is it; pick on the genius day?"

Ryo spoke up, "If you were a genius, you'd come up with better comebacks."

"Okay, Mr. I-still-have-dial-up."

Ryo turned to Shin, "See?"

Shin nodded.

* * *

><p>After setting up, the five troopers stood at the dock that was recently built. Ryo gave his short speech, in which the other four cheered after.<p>

"Oh, we forgot something." Touma said before pushing Shin, "Fishboy belongs in the water."

Falling over, Shin grabbed onto Touma's sleeve pulling him with. Touma and Shin popped back up. Touma then proudly showed that he had saved his beer. His achievement fell apart when Shu and Ryo jumped in on top of them.

"Seiji, you coming?" Shu yelled.

Seiji crossed his arms, "No."

Now that the fun was ruined by a one each Seiji, they started to get out. Leaning over the side of the dock, Shin let out a long sigh. Looking back over the lake, he saw the reflection of the sun setting. He also saw that an old friend was standing on the water. Looking back at his friends and seeing that they were busy harassing Seiji, Shin took the chance to swim towards Lir.

"Greetings my young friend." Lir said.

"Hello."

"It's been a long time. How's the married life since you both now live in Japan?"

"It's going fairly well. We're happy."

"Is everything going how you expected it?"

Shin thought about it for a moment before answering, "It is. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Good." Lir grinned, "You better get back to your friends before they realize you're missing."

Shin nodded before returning. Lir continued to grin.

"Ah, it's good to see that bad deeds of mine can sometime lead to happiness of others. Suiko is complete with this bearer." He said, talking to the spirit next to him.

"Yeah." Ryuusuke smirked.

"Water is supposed to flow. Shin flows well with what is given to him. Sure there were some bumps in the way, but sometimes water becomes frozen when it gets cold. Well, to unfreeze it, you have to add some heat. Unfortunately for you lad, there was some depth to this iceberg and you were the exact amount of heat to get Miss Gabriella to go to Japan to get it flowing again. "

"You're an evil bastard."

"Not evil, just looking out for Suiko."

"I still call it evil." He said, messing with a deck of cards.

Laughing, they left the five troopers alone to celebrate their old victory in good spirits.

* * *

><p><strong>Long Author's note…<strong>

**So, in case anyone is curious, this story was originally supposed to follow Rowen. Earlier last decade when the cartoon was on Cartoon Network, I came across a picture with him, his parents and a freaky hooded character. Not knowing anything about it, I was going to base a story on it with Rowen and Cye going to save his parents. Well a decade later I find out that it was supposed to come with one of the drama CDs. So then it turned into now Touma being forced to go with his father to the Soviet Union and him falling for a girl and then going to save her after he finds out that he and his dad were not brought there to help with space rockets, but so that the USSR could take Tenku and own the west. The Soviets then use the girl and his dad as bait and Touma freaks out on them and starts to follow the kidnappers to save them. Then he finds himself not only saving them but fighting a strange spirit/demon. But then reading into history, the Soviet Union was kinda falling apart at the time I was going to set it. So I moved it to Touma going to Florida and instead of a Russian girl, she became Cuban.**

**Meanwhile I had another idea of Shin going into the Coast Guard and messing with Fionnuala. It was going along the lines of what I wrote, but from Touma's view and then them meeting up to help each other. Well, I couldn't get Touma's story started and instead made it from Shin's view, and changed Touma going to the USA as a college student and the Cuban girl then became Carla.**

**There were a lot of other plans as well. I was going to send Shin to a lot of places before deciding on Somalia. First I was going to send him to Kuwait, then Bosnia, but decided that Somalia was just better for him because of age. So that's all part one.**

**Part two just kinda came out of nowhere, and it wasn't really going to be as long as it was, but then I had plans for a part three, which I decided to kill because I kept coming up with different story plots, and I didn't feel like sending Shin back into a combat zone. I felt like I'd lose readers because of emotions and people being sick of non-armor fighting as it would have taken place after 2001.**

**It was fun to write something besides Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I think Sokka showed up in Touma a lot, and I think Zuko showed up in Seiji too. Oops. **

**I do have two plot bunnies gnawing on my brain. The first one that I kinda started is a 'what if.' Pretty much it's what would have happened if the Ronins couldn't get Rowen out of space in 1988 and instead got him out in the year 2040. I made notes so I wouldn't forget what I direction I want it to go.**

**The second one is a crossover with Elder Scrolls, because I love those games and it just random popped into my head one day. I have a tendency of making someone from some cartoon into my characters. I have some notes on it and a basic plot, but I have to make myself research the world a bit.**

**So if either one sounds cool to post first let me know. And thanks for reading my longest fanfic so far.**


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